- 6 Feb 2023
- By CME Group
Micro WTI Crude Oil (MCO) options launched in June 2022 following the success of Micro WTI Crude Oil (MCL) futures, which traded over 25M contracts in its first year. At 1/10th the size of benchmark WTI Crude Oil, Micro WTI futures and options enable greater access to the crude oil market with smaller margin requirements and more versatility.
Contract highlights include:
- Micro WTI futures
- Over 38M contracts traded since launching in 2021
- Record average open interest of 59K lots per day, up over 450% from 2021, and ADV up 26% to 99K lots per day
- In 2022, 37% of MCL volume traded during non-U.S. hours, higher than the standard WTI futures at 21%
- Volume has originated from over 155 countries and regions
- Micro WTI options
- Participation has steadily grown since launch with volume averaging 1K lots per/day in Q4 2022
- Nearly 3K traders from 28 firms have participated
- Volume has originated from 75 different countries
Open Interest within the Voluntary Carbon Emissions Offset futures suite grew to record levels in December 2022, with single day record open interest topping 29K open lots on December 27. Much of the growth was achieved in Global Emissions Offset (GEO) futures, the first launched emissions offset contract. The underlying supply of GEO futures is comprised of projects aligning with ICAO’s CORSIA framework.
Combined quarterly average daily open interest was over 23.5K, up 99% from the same period in 2021, with GEO futures up 151% with an average of 8.5K lots in Q4 2022.
Source: CME Group
Traders around the world utilized the 24-hour onscreen liquidity of Henry Hub futures and options to manage risk, as U.S. gas assumed a more prominent role in global markets in 2022, with 18% of futures volumes and over 12% of options volumes originated outside of North America.
Source: CME Group
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WTI Weekly options achieved a record average daily volume of over 5.8K and an average daily open interest above 13K. Weekly options provide traders greater flexibility to manage their market exposure and risk related to market impacting events.
LNG North West Europe Marker (Platts) futures, contract code NWM, launched on October 24, 2022. These futures contracts enable natural gas traders to have more ways to hedge price risk when shipping LNG across the Atlantic Basin to Europe.
With large uncertainties, it’s no wonder the options market continues to price high volatility. For example, the crude oil markets have experienced sustained levels of high volatility throughout 2022. Learn more on the fundamentals behind this volatility.
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Data as of January 12, 2023 unless otherwise specified.
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