Money managers shifted their oil market wagers sharply in the week ended July 11, increasing bullish bets on ICE Brent crude while cutting positions in U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate, according to exchange and CFTC data. Net long positions in Brent rose by 16 million barrels, a 7% gain from the previous week, as long contracts grew by 15 million barrels and shorts slipped by 1 million. The adjustment came as front-month Brent futures added $1.49 to close the period at $69.78 a barrel. By contrast, speculative net longs in WTI dropped 52 million barrels, a 35% reduction. Traders shed 31 million long contracts and added 21 million shorts even as WTI futures advanced $1.68, or 3%, to $67.93. Positioning in U.S. natural gas also turned more bullish. Net longs climbed 28 billion cubic feet, a 59% jump, though Nymex gas prices slipped $0.12 to $3.32 per million British thermal units. Despite the weekly increase, combined Brent-WTI net longs remain 55% below the average seen in 2017-21 and 32% under 2022-24 levels, indicating overall speculative exposure is still subdued.