“West Texas Intermediate crude fell to trade near $90 a barrel after money managers cut bets on rising prices.
Futures retreated for a third day in New York after sliding to a 10-week low on March 1. Net-long positions in WTI dropped 16 percent, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Services industries in China expanded at the slowest pace in five months in February, a survey of purchasing managers showed yesterday.
“Oil is going to remain under pressure for a while yet,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London, who correctly predicted last month that prices were set to drop. “When prices were strong last month there was an influx of fresh speculative buying, and the opposite is happening now.”
WTI for April delivery fell as much as 59 cents to $90.09 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $90.51 at 11:33 a.m. London time. The volume of all futures traded was 10 percent below the 100-day average. Prices declined 2.6 percent last week for a second weekly drop and are down 1.4 percent this year. WTI last traded at $90 on Dec. 31.
Bullish Bets
Brent for April settlement gained 11 cents to $110.50 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 52 percent higher than the 100- day average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $19.99 to WTI futures, from $19.72 on March 1….”
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