Derivatives marketplace operator CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) has announced that WTI Light Sweet Crude Oil futures open interest reached a record 2,695,178 contracts on Friday, May 4, surpassing the previous record of 2,691,028 contracts set on November 10, 2017.
Peter Keavey, CME Group Global Head of Energy said:
Market participants are using WTI futures and options in record numbers to manage risk amid ongoing geopolitical and global economic uncertainty. These factors, coupled with record U.S. crude oil production and growing exports have renewed NYMEX WTI’s status as the de facto global price-setting and risk management benchmark for the global crude oil market.
On average, WTI futures have traded 1.32 million contracts per day year-to-date through April 2018, an increase of 18 percent versus the same period last year.