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By Devika Krishna Kumar and Maiya Keidan
NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Two of the world's largestenergy-focused hedge funds, Andurand Capital and BBLCommodities, suffered double-digit percentage losses in July asoil prices plunged by the most in two years, sources familiarwith the matter told Reuters on Friday.
BBL Commodities Value Fund, run by former Goldman Sachs oiltrader Jonathan Goldberg, lost 14.2 percent in July, a personclose to the firm said, speaking on condition of anonymity sincethe information is not public.
Andurand Capital's Commodities Fund lost 15.2 percent inJuly, bringing the fund's performance to a 5 percent loss forthe year through July 31, according to data compiled by HSBC.
Pierre Andurand, who runs the $1.2-billion AndurandCommodities Fund, predicted the rise and subsequent crash in theoil price in 2008 and is known as one of the biggest oil bullsin the market.
Both funds were very bullish heading into July, marketsources said, leaving them caught on the wrong side during theoil price slide.
U.S. crude futures last month fell more than 7percent while global benchmark Brent crude dropped by6.5 percent, the biggest monthly declines since July 2016.
Prices dropped after OPEC members boosted output in July by70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 32.64 million bpd, a high forthe year, and pledged to offset any loss of supply from Iran,the group's No. 3 producer, due to looming U.S. sanctions.
Prominent hedge funds such as Andurand Capital and WestbeckCapital Management were betting oil could skyrocket to $150 abarrel thanks in part to the potential loss of Iranian supply.However, physical markets are showing signs of strain as crudebuilds on ships and weighs on prices for spot cargoes.
"The weak oil physical market is not only due to more OPECoil on the water. It is mainly due to China destocking. Theirlow imports are not sustainable. They have been very low for 3months. Their imports could go back up 2mbd any time now,"Andurand said in a tweet late in July.
A spokesman for Andurand declined to comment on July'sperformance. BBL executives were not immediately available tocomment.
Will Smith, Westbeck's chief investment officer, said, "Julywas indeed a tough month, but we did manage a small positive."
Overall, commodity-focused macro hedge funds are down 1percent on average in the first seven months of 2018, accordingto data from industry tracker Hedge Fund Research.
The year to date has been rough for many firms across theindustry.
Trading desks of oil major BP and merchants Vitol,Gunvor, and Trafigura have recorded losses in the tens ofmillions of dollars each as a result of the 'whipsaw' move whenU.S. crude's discount to Brent plummeted to more than $11.50 abarrel in June, insiders familiar with their performance toldReuters.
Energy hedge fund Velite Capital, once among the mostprofitable natural gas trading shops in the United States, iswinding down operations, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Sierentz Global Merchants, a commodities trading firmcontrolled by members of the Louis-Dreyfus family, recentlyexited its physical energy business, and Texas tycoon T. BoonePickens' BP Capital shut earlier this year. Last year, traderAndy Hall's Astenbeck Capital Management also began shutting itsmain hedge fund.(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New YorkEditing by Paul Simao)
