Hedge funds dump oil, prompting OPEC to signal “tweak“: John Kemp

Hedge funds dump oil, prompting OPEC to signal “tweak“: John Kemp

(John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)LONDON- Hedge funds dumped many of their remaining petroleum positions last week as the surging number of coronavirus cases and fresh lockdowns fuelled fears of a second recession in the United States and Europe.In response, Saudi Arabia's oil minister has said the OPEC+ production agreement could be “tweaked”, implying the presently scheduled increase due to take effect in January could be postponed.Instead, current production could be continued for three months, or more; the group could even consider further reducing output (“Saudi energy minister says OPEC+ oil output deal could be tweaked”, Reuters, Nov. 9).Hedge funds and other money managers sold 104 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to Nov.