Seems the liquidation may be ending, but just guessing.
Vitol Reclassified by CFTC as `Non-Commercial’ Trader, WSJ Says
by Alexander Kwiatkowski
(Bloomberg) Vitol Group was reclassified by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a “non-commercial” trader, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people it didn’t identify.
The U.S. regulator changed the status of “one of the largest traders” in July, without identifying the company, the newspaper said. People familiar with the matter have now named the trader as Vitol, according to the Journal.
The change meant that bets by non-commercial traders, or speculators, represented half or more of all outstanding crude oil futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the newspaper said.
Vitol hasn’t been contacted by the CFTC or by Nymex with regard to its trading status, a Switzerland-based company official said today by phone, declining to be identified. Vitol remains classified as a commercial trader, the official said.
Vitol “is not in the business of taking large positions speculating on the rise or fall of market prices,” the company said in a May statement on its Web site.
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