Commitments of Traders
CFTC's weekly report of futures market positioning by trader category.
Last refreshed: 13 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did money managers cut crude length 23% just as Brent rallied 12% to $79?
Timeline for Commitments of Traders
Captured week-to-7-July positioning after a delayed release
European Oil Markets: Funds cut crude length into the rallyWhat is the CFTC Commitments of Traders report?
Why did WTI managed money cut length in July 2026?
How often is the Commitments of Traders report published?
Background
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report breaks down futures positioning by trader category, and its delayed 7 July reading showed funds cutting NYMEX WTI managed-money net length 23% to +64,041 contracts even as Brent rallied toward $79 on Hormuz risk, a divergence this desk reads as the clearest sign the rally lacked speculative conviction.
Published weekly by the CFTC, the report splits open interest into commercial, non-commercial (managed money) and other categories, and is the standard reference for gauging whether a price move reflects fresh conviction or short-covering. Through June the WTI book swung from net short -26,694 to net long +82,872 in three weeks , and three weeks before that had flushed from a -57,280 Brent net short to near-neutral. That volatility is why the desk treats a single week's print as a positioning read, not a directional call.
