Last year’s oil market was dominated by algorithmic trading, amplifying every headline about market oversupply and Chinese demand into price swings that kept crude trapped in a narrow, disappointing range—well below OPEC+’s lofty production-cut goals. This year may not see much of a change in oil’s price amplitude, but the peaks and troughs could grow sharper, setting the stage for some dramatic action. In the second and third week of December last year, speculators in the United States significantly increased their bets…
