Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesWhile markets are increasingly uncertain as to where the crude price will head, that hasn’t stopped investors from placing ever larger bets, which just hit the highest level on record. According to data released by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last Friday, the level of open interest in benchmark US WTI crude oil futures and options rose to 497,280 last week, the largest figure on record since the data was first collected back in 2006. Essentially, despite uncertainty about which direction the crude price will head, speculative investors have never had so much money riding on its future performance. “This is a reflection of a lot of conviction on both sides,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC told Bloomberg.