Energy

Major Oil Short Sellers Run for Cover

Chris Lange

Published: December 12, 2017 10:45 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 5:31 am

Crude oil had traded above $50 a barrel in the first quarter of this year, and finally it’s back to that magic number and pushing higher. The price has held relatively steady at this level, and it’s steadily creeping toward $60. The current crude price is still less than half of what it was in 2014.

The November 30 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest for most of the selected big oil stocks decreased.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest increase slightly to 22.94 million shares from the previous reading of 22.89 million. The shares were last seen trading at $120.34, in a 52-week trading range of $102.55 to $122.30.

Short interest in Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) decreased slightly to 32.78 million shares from the previous 32.86 million. The stock traded at $83.24, within a 52-week range of $76.05 to $93.22.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest decreased to 5.95 million shares from the previous reading of 7.10 million. Shares traded at $40.74, in a 52-week range of $33.10 to $41.55.

The number of ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) shares short decreased to 23.93 million from the previous level of 25.88 million. Shares were trading at $51.85, within a 52-week range of $42.27 to $54.22.

Short interest at Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, decreased to 46.57 million shares from the previous 49.35 million. The stock traded at $9.66 a share, in a 52-week range of $7.61 to $11.71. Unfortunately, Petrobras may be trading on an entirely different set of fundamentals and sentiment due to its ongoing woes in Brazil.

Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s (NYSE: OXY) short interest increased to 10.13 million shares from the previous reading of 8.97 million. Shares recently traded at $69.88, in a 52-week range of $57.20 to $73.51.

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