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Bank sold over $270 million of United States oil futures ahead of OPEC+ meet, source says

A single bank sold a large volume of U.S. oil futures contracts in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, an individual with direct knowledge of the matter stated, pushing rates down more than 1% within minutes and causing traders to rush to understand the factor.

The sale, just hours ahead of an OPEC+ virtual conference at which the group is anticipated to extend supply cuts through the end of the very first quarter, left traders scrambling to make sense of the reasoning for the transaction.

The bank sold 4,000 great deals of U.S. West Texas Intermediate petroleum futures in a single block at $69.21 a barrel around 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT), the person stated. The buyer then offered the agreements immediately afterwards, putting pressure on rates, they added.

A spokesperson for CME Group, owner and operator of the New York City Mercantile Exchange on which WTI futures are traded, confirmed that a straight-out block of that size traded. They declined to divulge the identity of the celebrations involved.

WTI futures for January delivery fell from $69.42 a barrel at 12:59 p.m. to $68.76 a barrel by 1:00 p.m.

WTI futures settled at $68.54 per barrel, down $1.40, or 2%.

A great deal of WTI futures relates to 1,000 barrels of oil, putting the value of the 4,000-lot trade north of $270 million.

The typical volume for the front-month WTI agreement on the New York City Mercantile Exchange given that Sept. 4 has been around 200 lots per minute, according to data from financial company LSEG.

Everybody's trying to figure this out, Mizuho analyst Robert Yawger said when inquired about the sharp sell-off. I have not seen any headings that would describe it.

(source: Reuters)