CME Group Announces WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures Open Interest Reaches Record 2.5 Million Contracts

CHICAGO, Nov. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures open interest surpassed 2.5 million contracts for the first time on Tuesday, October 31.

WTI futures open interest reached a record 2,509,878 contracts yesterday, surpassing the previous record of 2,492,940 contracts set on October 30, 2017, and increasing 20 percent since the start of the year.

"The U.S. is now a global leader in production and export of crude oil, with exports recently topping two million barrels per day in the month of September," said Peter Keavey, CME Group Global Head of Energy. "Increasingly, the global crude oil marketplace is relying on our deep and liquid NYMEX WTI Crude Oil futures as the de facto global price-setting and risk management benchmark."

On average, WTI futures have traded 1.25 million contracts per day during 2017, an increase of 16 percent versus the same period last year.

WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures contracts are listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.Through its exchanges, CME Group offers the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange,energy, agricultural products and metals.CME Group provides electronic trading globally on its CME Globex platform. The company also offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives through its clearinghouses CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe.CME Group's products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

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SOURCECME Group