Analysis-Renewed inflation worries help drive oil price rally

Investors are snapping up crude oil futures as a hedge against the risk that U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened trade tariffs will cause a resurgence in global inflation, adding momentum to a recent rally in oil prices sparked by a tightening of sanctions on Russia. Oil is a popular inflation hedge because energy is a important component of Consumer Price Index (CPI) baskets and also feeds into them indirectly through goods and services costs. Fund managers have built up the largest net long position in crude oil futures in nine months, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.