The highly concentrated flurry in Brent and WTI futures could signal possible insider knowledge that triggered a sell-off, the outlet has suggested
Oil traders placed more than half a billion dollars in bets minutes before US President Donald Trump announced “productive” talks with Iran on Monday, the Financial Times has reported.
A burst of activity followed by a sharp price drop has raised questions about possible advance knowledge among market participants.
About 6,200 Brent and WTI futures contracts changed hands between 6:49 AM and 6:50 AM in New York – a one-minute flurry worth $580 million, based on FT calculations using Bloomberg data. Volumes in both benchmarks – Brent and US West Texas Intermediate – spiked simultaneously, about 27 seconds before 6:50 AM, while S&P 500 futures surged shortly after.
The trades came roughly 15 minutes before Trump said on Truth Social there had been “productive conversations” with Tehran to end the war in Iran.
His 7:04 AM post triggered a sharp sell-off in global energy markets, while S&P 500 futures and European equities rallied as investors pared bets on a prolonged conflict.
It was unclear who was behind the trades, the FT noted.
“It’s hard to prove causality… but you have to wonder who would have been relatively aggressive at selling futures at that point, 15 minutes before Trump’s post,” a US broker strategist told the outlet.
Under the rules of CME Group – the Chicago-based exchange that hosts trading in benchmark Brent and WTI crude futures – large trader positions must be disclosed daily, though the identity of specific traders is not publicly available in real time.
The concentrated one-minute spike stands out even against typically high trading volumes, which usually run into hundreds of thousands of contracts over a full session.
The timing of the trades – and who could have benefited – raised questions, though the White House pushed back, denying that any administration official illegally profited from insider knowledge.
“The only focus of President Trump and Trump administration officials is doing what’s best for the American people,” spokesperson Kush Desai said, calling any suggestion of insider profiteering “baseless and irresponsible.”
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, later denied any talks with Washington, sending global stocks lower and lifting energy markets. He said “fake news” was being used to manipulate oil and financial markets and help the United States and Israel “escape the quagmire” they face.
Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday, with Brent above $103 a barrel and WTI near $91, as uncertainty over Iran kept markets volatile.