Contract Purpose
This outright contract allows market participants to:
- Gain direct exposure to the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil
- Hedge against price fluctuations in the global oil market
- Speculate on the future price direction of crude oil in the United States and internationally
Market Significance
- Benchmark Status: Serves as the primary pricing point for crude oil futures in North America and a key global benchmark
- Global Reference: Used as a benchmark for crude oil pricing worldwide, influencing approximately 20 million barrels per day of North American crude oil sales
- Regional Indicator: Provides insights into supply and demand dynamics for crude oil in the U.S. market and globally
Trading Benefits
- Price Discovery: Offers a transparent mechanism for determining the price of crude oil based on actual supply and demand, with futures prices reflecting fundamentals in the physical crude oil market
- Risk Management: Allows hedging against price volatility in the oil market, providing producers with downside price risk protection and consumers with upside price protection
- Market Access: Provides exposure to the world’s most liquid crude oil contract, with over 1 million contracts of WTI futures and options traded daily
This contract is particularly valuable for oil producers, refiners, physical traders, and financial institutions active in the global energy market. It offers a tool for managing price risks and implementing trading strategies related to crude oil, with nearly 24-hour electronic access and high liquidity. The WTI futures contract’s close connection to the spot market and physical settlement option make it an efficient hedging tool for hundreds of international commercial oil companies.