Oil Bull Hall's Fund Widens Loss

Hedge fund manager Andy Hall, one of the most avowed oil bulls, had losses of about 7 percent in September, bringing the year-to-date decline to more than 20 percent, industry sources said on Friday.

The September loss means the oil-focused fund managed by Hall's Astenbeck Capital Management in Southport, Connecticut has been down in six months out of this year's nine, based on earlier data circulated by the firm to investors in August and seen by Reuters. The firm had nearly $3 billion under management at the end of August.

In September, global oil benchmark Brent was down about 11 percent, and is down about 16 percent on the year. U.S. crude was down 8 percent, and on the year is about 15 percent lower.

Astenbeck's returns appeared to lag the broader energy funds industry.

The average energy-focused commodity hedge fund tracked by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research was up 3.7 percent through August, the latest HFR data showed. That data suggests that many such funds had short positions and bearish strategies on oil.

A spokesperson for Astenbeck declined comment.

Oil prices fell in September on weak Chinese economic data, more declines than rises in Wall Street share prices and Goldman Sachs' "lower for even longer" oil price forecasts. Oil bulls based their hopes on indications of falling U.S. crude output as the oil rigs in the country steadily slipped.

Astenbeck's assets under management stood at $2.8 billion at the end of August. Barring other adjustments, a 7 percent decline should reduce that to around $2.6 billion.

Hall, a 64-year old former Citigroup star trader, has spent half of his life taking steel-nerved bets on oil.

(Reporting by Barani Krishnan; Editing by Jessica Resnick-Ault and David Gregorio)