Last week, following Iran's missile attack on Israel, oil prices soared, and investment funds placed their largest call bet on Brent crude oil prices since 2018.

According to the weekly report released by the Intercontinental Exchange, the net long positions held by hedge funds, exchange-traded funds, and other speculators increased by 0.139 billion barrels equivalent last week. These numbers are based on EU regulations, different from the highly anticipated position data required by US reports.

After Iran's missile attack on Israel, Brent crude oil futures skyrocketed by about $6 last week. Subsequently, against the backdrop of speculative traders accumulating record net short bets, the risk of Israel retaliating against Iran's energy infrastructure further pushed up oil prices.