Rising Oil Prices Push Short Interest Down

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 12:08PM EST · Published Mar 10, 8:25AM EST

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Rising Oil Prices Push Short Interest Down — © Thinkstock

The short interest data have been released for the February 29 settlement date. With oil prices seemingly on the path to recovery and global markets slowly getting stronger, short interest is now more important than ever to follow.

The February 29 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest for the selected stocks is down.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest decrease to 25.68 million shares from the previous reading of 27.46 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $92.82, in a 52-week trading range of $69.58 to $112.20.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) had short interest that fell to 52.29 million shares from the previous level of 55.71 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $82.40, within a 52-week range of $66.55 to $90.09.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest decreased to 7.69 million shares from its previous reading of 8.77 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $30.30, in a 52-week range of $27.01 to $43.85.
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ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) saw the number of its shares short decrease to 35.51 million from the previous level of 37.35 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $39.05, within a 52-week range of $31.05 to $69.72.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, saw its short interest decrease to 139.68 million shares from the previous 151.84 million. Shares closed Wednesday at $5.13, in a 52-week trading range of $2.71 to $10.55. Unfortunately, Petrobras may be trading on an entirely different set of fundamentals and sentiment due to its woes in Brazil.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) short interest fell to 12.60 million shares from the previous reading of 14.74 million. Shares closed most recently at $68.43, in a 52-week trading range of $58.24 to $82.06.

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.