Investors pull $1.2 bln from energy ETPs in April - BlackRock

* Total (Swiss: FP.SW - news) commodity outflows at $728 mln for April

* Investors take profits after oil price rally

* Broad basket ETPs benefit from base metals boost

By Claire Milhench

LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Investors pulled $1.2 billion

from energy exchange-traded products (ETPs) in April, banking

profits after oil prices rallied some 20 percent over the month,

the latest global data from asset manager BlackRock (NYSE: BLK - news) showed.

It was a sharp reversal from the first quarter of 2015, when

investors piled into oil ETPs trying to position for a rebound

when production numbers start to dip.

But with Saudi Arabia pumping at near-record highs in an

attempt to win a battle for market share against U.S. shale

production, crude supply continues to outweigh demand.

Towards the end of March there were signs that investor

fatigue had set in, as negative roll yields eroded profits. The

April rally then gave some investors an opportunity to cash in.

"With the fundamental outlook for oil not improving

significantly, outflows are likely short-term investors taking

money off the table after a nice recovery in oil prices since

late March," Ursula Marchioni, head of ETP research at

BlackRock's iShares EMEA, said.

"Oil ETPs are not ideal for longer-term bets due to roll

costs eroding returns and the market has been in contango ever

since the ETP flows began to pick up late last year," she added.

Energy was the best-performing sector in the S&P GSCI in

March, up 17.4 percent, with all petroleum commodities reporting

double-digit gains. But the persistent weakness in physical

crude markets suggests oil futures may sell off again.

Nitesh Shah, commodities research associate at ETF

Securities, an issuer of ETPs, said outflows from oil ETPs had

continued into May. "The rally was a bit premature because

global oil supply hasn't really tightened yet," he said.

He suggested that some investors had taken profits in April

in case OPEC chooses not to cut production at its June meeting,

and prices fall again.

Gold ETPs had modest inflows in April after outflows of over

$2 billion in March. Shah partly attributed this reversal to

nervousness around the outcome of Greece's debt negotiations.

Broad basket commodity ETPs attracted $128 million, mainly

driven by an improving outlook for industrial metals, which

rallied strongly over April.

"They had a good month on expectations of supplies

tightening, and investors seem more optimistic about commodities

in general," Shah said.

Aluminium, tin and nickel ETPs have attracted decent inflows

in recent weeks, he added.

Global commodities at end-April (US$ mln)

SECTOR APRIL FLOWS APRIL ASSETS

Broad/Diversified 128.4 13,415

Agriculture 25.1 3,656

Energy -1,234.4 15,616

Industrial Metals 13.6 1,556

Gold 223 62,544

Silver (Shenzhen: 300221.SZ - news) 109.9 9,317

Other Precious Metals 6.1 18,706

TOTAL Precious Metals 339 90,567

TOTAL COMMODITIES -728.3 124,810

Source: BlackRock

(Editing by Dale Hudson)