Andurand oil hedge fund up 13.5 percent to end Feb

By David Sheppard

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Energy hedge fund Andurand Capital (Other OTC: CGHC - news) was up 13.5 percent at the end of February, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, as one of the world's most famous oil traders extended a winning run.

French fund manager Pierre Andurand, who made almost 50 percent last year betting on the oil crash, returned about 10 percent in January and 3 percent in February, the source said, as crude stabilised after hitting a six-year low near $45 a barrel.

Andurand, whose career included stints at Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) and commodities trading giant Vitol , made his name in 2008 when his BlueGold fund correctly called the spike and subsequent collapse in oil.

BlueGold shut at the end of 2011 as Andurand and co-founder Dennis Crema went their separate ways.

Since launching the new London-based fund in 2013, Andurand Capital has increased its assets under management to $450 million, the source said. That is up from $400 million at the start of 2015.

Speaking in December, Andurand said wild oil price swings would continue after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) declined to cut production, choosing to compete to hold on to market share rather than trying to prop up the price.

Brent crude oil prices recovered to around $60 a barrel in February as traders bet U.S. oil output may soon slow as a result of the price crash. Prices have since fallen back to less than $54 a barrel. (Additional reporting by Nishant Kumar and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)