Energy

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

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The short interest data have been released for the April 15 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 April 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest for the selected stocks is mixed.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest increase to 23.93 million shares from the previous reading of 23.22 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $102.29, in a 52-week trading range of $69.58 to $112.20.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) had short interest that fell to 41.62 million shares from the previous level of 44.04 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $87.63, within a 52-week range of $66.55 to $90.09.


BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest increased to 12.14 million shares from its previous reading of 9.93 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $33.49, in a 52-week range of $27.01 to $43.85.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) saw the number of its shares short decrease to 19.23 million from the previous level of 19.37 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $48.08, within a 52-week range of $31.05 to $69.03.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, saw its short interest increase to 122.66 million shares from the previous 115.86 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $7.22, 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 increased to 9.94 million shares from the previous reading of 8.77 million. Shares closed most recently at $76.48, in a 52-week trading range of $58.24 to $82.02.

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