Funds prepare $2 bn oil market play as supply tightens

On Friday, the Brent May contract price settled at $56.31 a barrel

Passive investment funds are poised to shift an estimated $2 billion from far-term to near-term crude futures over the next week, anticipating an energy market rally as a historic Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries  (Opec) output cut slashes supply. 

The switch may foreshadow the end of a global oil glut that built up during a two-year price war. 

On Friday — for the first time in six years — a rule in one of the most popular commodity market indices was triggered, requiring funds tracking the index to sell Brent crude futures contracts for December and to buy contracts for June