Oil edges up as bullish bets on rising prices hit record high
Investors showed record confidence that prices would rise further, though gains were capped by prospect of faster growth in US oil production
New York — Oil prices edged higher on Monday as investors showed record confidence that prices would rise further, though gains were capped by the prospect of faster growth in US oil production. On its second to last day as the front-month contract, Brent futures for April delivery were up 16c, or 0.3%, at $56.15 a barrel by 4:24pm. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), meanwhile, was up 21c, or 0.4%, to $54.20 per barrel. Traders said futures pared gains from earlier on Monday after a report from energy data provider Genscape showed a build of more than 800,000 barrels of crude at the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma, where WTI is priced. Investors raised their bets on rising Brent crude oil prices to a new high last week, data from the InterContinental Exchange showed on Monday, breaking the 500,000-lot mark for the first time on record. Money managers also raised their bullish US crude futures and options positions in the week to February 21 to the highest on record, the US Comm...
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