International derivatives marketplace CME Group today announced that trading in its U.S. Crude Grade futures, which are Argus-settled and trade as a differential to the global benchmark WTI Crude Oil futures, reached several records in April 2024:

• Record ADV of 17.8K contracts, up 54% year-over-year
• Record ADV for WTI Midland contracts of 7.1K, up 73% year-over-year
• Record ADV for WTI Houston contracts of 10.7K, up 43% year-over-year
• Record average daily open interest (ADOI) of 612K contracts per day, up 45% year-over-year
• Record April ADOI for WTI Midland contracts of 279.9K contracts, up 37% year-over-year
• Record April ADOI of WTI Houston of 332.8K contracts, up 53% year-over-year
• Record single-day open interest of a combined 657,889 contracts on April 29, 2024.

“As U.S. crude oil exports hit new records, commercial demand for our WTI-linked export contracts is also growing rapidly as global market participants manage their price exposure,” said Peter Keavey, Global Head of Energy at CME Group. “WTI’s position as a global benchmark has never been stronger. Looking ahead, in addition to these volume and open interest records, open interest extends through December, 2027, indicating a growing number of long-term deals being indexed to WTI.”

WTI Midland (Argus) vs. WTI futures and WTI Houston (Argus) vs. WTI futures are listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.