Short Sellers Can’t Make Up Their Minds on Major Oil

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 3:56PM EST · Published Jan 12, 10:10AM EST

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Short Sellers Can’t Make Up Their Minds on Major Oil — © Thinkstock

[cnxvideo id=”655420″ placement=”ros”]The short interest data have been released for the December 30 settlement date. Since the election was decided with Trump taking the White House, short interest for major oil stocks is now more important than ever to follow.

Recently, crude oil has flirted with the $55 a barrel level, which is a step in the right direction. Still this is less than half of what it was in 2014. However, the prospect for this industry is promising. Wells Fargo sees a positive outlook for most of these companies. 24/7 Wall St. has even evaluated the bullish and bearish case for the two Dow stocks on this list.

The December 30 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest moves for the selected oil stocks was mixed.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest decrease to 31.66 million shares from the previous reading of 34.77 million. The shares closed Wednesday at $115.93, in a 52-week trading range of $75.33 to $119.00.

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Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) had short interest that decreased to 37.78 million shares from the previous 43.66 million. The stock closed Wednesday at $86.81, within a 52-week range of $71.55 to $95.55.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest increased to 12.43 million shares from the previous reading of 9.47 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $37.55, in a 52-week range of $27.01 to $38.68.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) saw the number of its shares short decrease to 14.48 million from the previous level of 17.78 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $51.22, within a 52-week range of $31.05 to $53.17.

Short interest at Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, increased to 67.99 million shares from the previous 64.85 million. The stock closed Wednesday at $11.54 a share, in a 52-week range of $2.71 to $12.56. 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 12.42 million shares from the previous reading of 11.96 million. Shares closed most recently at $69.35, in a 52-week range of $58.24 to $78.48.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.