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

[cnxvideo id=”655225″ placement=”ros”]Since Trump has taken the White House, crude oil has been trading above $50 a barrel, and it seems to have solidified at this price level, which is a step in the right direction. Former Exxon CEO, Rex Tillerson, is also Secretary of State, which could prove to be beneficial for the oil industry. With these tailwinds, short interest for major oil stocks is now more important than ever to follow.

Although the current crude price is still this is less than half of what it was in 2014, the prospects for this industry are promising.

The February 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures, and short interest moves for the selected oil stocks were mixed.

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Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) saw its short interest decrease slightly to 24.41 million shares from the previous reading of 24.43 million. The shares were last seen at $111.75, in a 52-week trading range of $83.07 to $119.00.

Short interest in Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) decreased to 29.32 million shares from the previous 30.59 million. The stock was trading at $81.54, within a 52-week range of $80.05 to $95.55.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest increased to 16.06 million shares from the previous reading of 15.55 million. Shares were recently at $33.98, in a 52-week range of $28.67 to $38.68.

The number of ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) shares short increased to 16.40 million from the previous level of 14.33 million. Shares were trading at $47.36, within a 52-week range of $33.34 to $53.17.

Short interest at Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, decreased to 43.87 million shares from the previous 54.45 million. The stock traded at $10.22 a share, in a 52-week range of $3.55 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 14.91 million shares from the previous reading of 12.65 million. Shares were recently at $65.47, in a 52-week range of $64.19 to $78.48.

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