Risk‑management funds have taken short positions on Brent crude worth about $18 billion, the highest level in at least a decade. The figure has more than tripled over the past three months. In the week ending June 16, hedge funds and institutional investors sold roughly $7.5 billion of Brent contracts, the largest weekly sell‑off since April 2025, with about 80 % representing new short bets rather than the unwinding of previous longs. This marks the seventh consecutive week of net selling, bringing total short sales to $24.8 billion, raising questions about whether the short oil trade has become overly crowded.