Brent Oil’s Record Open Interest Threatens WTI: Energy Markets
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Rising purchases of Brent crude contracts have driven holdings of the European benchmark oil grade to the highest level in five months relative to New York futures as investors bet it’s a better gauge of global demand.
Open interest, the number of contracts that haven’t been closed or delivered, for Brent futures rose to a record 968,565 on Jan. 21, data from London-based ICE Futures Europe show. The ratio of the European marker to West Texas Intermediate oil positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed to 65 percent, 15 percentage points above the five-year average and the most since Aug. 2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.