An unknown trader made massive bets on falling oil prices just before high-profile statements by US President Donald Trump regarding Iran. The total amount of such transactions reached $7 billion. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
These are so-called "short" bets on Brent and WTI oil futures, diesel fuel, and gasoline on the ICE and CME exchanges. Analysts noted unusually large and concentrated sales of assets that occurred minutes or hours before important political announcements from Washington and Tehran.
According to the publication, the identified transaction volume of $7 billion significantly exceeds the $2.6 billion that has already become the subject of a review by the US Department of Justice.
Earlier, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reported that it was monitoring suspicious transactions in the energy market, but it has not officially confirmed the fact of a full-scale investigation.
Journalists and experts highlighted several episodes where mass sales of assets occurred shortly before statements that influenced global oil prices.
For instance, on March 23, 15 minutes before Donald Trump's statement on postponing strikes against Iran, 20,000 lots of Brent and WTI worth $1.35 billion were sold, as well as assets worth $122 million in diesel and $81 million in gasoline. Following this, oil quotes fell by approximately 15%.
On April 7, before the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, sales worth $2.12 billion were recorded on the market. After the statement, Brent also dropped by nearly 15%.
On April 17, a few minutes before the statement by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Strait of Hormuz, assets worth approximately $2 billion were placed on the market.
Another episode occurred on April 21. At that time, a bet of $830 million was made approximately 15 minutes before Trump's decision to extend the ceasefire.
Oil dropped below $100 amid hopes for peace in the Middle East07.05.26, 16:02