Insight - Hedge fund oil buying slows as prices near critical level

Improved outlook: Oil pumping jacks in an oilfield near Neftekamsk, Russia. The prospect of an early deployment of effective vaccines has squeezed many fund managers previously pessimistic about oil consumption and prices next year. — Bloomberg

HEDGE fund managers purchased petroleum futures and options last week for the fifth week in a row, betting the rollout of coronavirus vaccines will boost international aviation and business activity from early next year.

But the rate of buying is slowing, perhaps because of the advent of the holiday season, but also because risks are shifting, with prices having already risen rapidly and so are increasingly vulnerable to a short-term correction.