NEW YORK: Money managers and speculators pushed their bearish bets in the US crude market to a record high in the week ended Jan. 12, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed, selling into the biggest two-week price rout since the 2008 financial crisis.

As oil prices plumbed new lows on Friday, closing to below $30 a barrel for the first time in 12 years, money managers boosted their short position to just over 200,000 contracts, equivalent to 200 million barrels, nearly 20,000 lots more than the previous high in December, according to CFTC data.

Some funds also increased their long positions in the week to Jan. 12, suggesting that at least a handful of players were beginning to bet that oil was finding a bottom. However, since Tuesday, oil prices have tumbled a further 2.6 percent.

On a total net basis across both CME Group and IntercontinentalExchange US futures contracts, the speculator group cut its combined futures and options position by 13,652 contracts to 35,526 lots, the lowest in data going back to 2009.

Some traders said the oil market is oversold following two weeks of almost unrelenting selling. The relative strength index (RSI) fell this week to below 30, a technical level often regarded as signaling a market that has fallen too far.

This, analysts say, is likely to lead to some short covering next week.

"Usually in the beginning of the week, you tend to get a bump up in prices after a big move down," said Sal Umek, senior analyst at the Energy Management Institute in New York.

"My guess is it'll go until you get the Wednesday inventory data from the EIA and if that's bearish then you might get some profit taking at that point."