Oil Options Traders Turn More Bearish Than During 2014 Crash
- Brent oil’s put-options bias biggest in data since 2013
- Crude’s bear market slide exacerbated by options trading
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Oil options traders have turned more bearish than when prices plunged back in 2014.
The premiums they’re paying for bearish put options over bullish calls over the next 12 months has reached the largest in data compiled by Bloomberg since 2013. The skew, as it’s known, indicates demand for protection against a slump. The negative bias is far greater than during four years ago, when Saudi Arabia adopted a pump-at-will production policy, helping prices crash to $47 from $115 in a matter of months.