CFTC Crude Oil Non-Commercial Net Positions

Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Crude Oil Non-Commercial Net Positions weekly report reflects the difference between the total volume of long and short crude oil positions existing in the market and opened by non-commercial (speculative) traders. The report only includes US futures markets (Chicago and New York Exchanges). So the indicator is a net volume of long crude oil positions in the United States.

Non-commercial traders open positions NOT for hedging in the futures or options market. This group includes only speculative operations. The same trader can be defined as commercial for trades with some assets and non-commercial with others. This classification is reflected in CFTC reports.

CFTC publishes report on net positions and commitments of traders to help traders and analysts understand the market dynamics. These reports are compiled on the basis of data on positions provided by FCM brokers, clearing companies and currency exchanges. The CFTC analytical department only provides data, but does not provide explanation on why such ratio of positions has formed.

Crude oil is an important commodity asset in global markets. Therefore, the dynamics of crude oil futures is an indication of its strength for the next few days. The indicator is often interpreted along with other indicators of the oil market. The САЕС report covers a small amount of global data and has therefore a limited impact on crude oil quotes.