Interesting.
Physically Delivered Sour Crude Futures Contracts Also to be Listed on NYMEX
CHICAGO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CME Group, the world's largest and
most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the launch of trading
and clearing services for cash-settled trade-month swap futures on the Argus
Sour Crude Index (ASCI) as published by Argus Media. Under a licensing
agreement with Argus Media, CME Group can develop futures, options and
over-the-counter (OTC) offerings on a broad range of Argus products. Trading
for the ASCI product is scheduled to begin November 23 on the New York trading
floor. Clearing services will be available through CME ClearPort, a set of
flexible clearing services open to OTC market participants to substantially
mitigate counterparty risk and provide neutral settlement prices across asset
classes.
The ASCI tracks the price in the physical market of a basket of US Gulf Coast
crude oils, including Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon, which are
priced at a differential to the NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI), the world's
most liquid, leading crude oil benchmark. The ASCI OTC contract will provide
producers, commercials and others an essential tool for pricing spreads on
these grades with NYMEX WTI.
In addition, CME Group plans to launch a new physically delivered US Gulf
Coast Sour Crude Oil futures contract, which will be listed on CME Globex and
CME ClearPort by the end of January 2010. The sour crude futures contract has
main delivery grades that closely mirror the ASCI, enabling an efficient tool
for hedging opportunities and to meet the evolving needs of the energy
industry. The contracts will be listed by and subject to the rules and
regulations of NYMEX.
"We are pleased to offer OTC futures contracts on the ASCI, which complement
our WTI futures," said CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy. "This week,
Saudi Arabia announced that they will begin using the ASCI to price their
substantial oil exports. This further strengthens the benchmark status of our
WTI contract as ASCI components are priced as differentials to the WTI
settlement price."
"The ASCI OTC futures contract, in concert with the WTI contract, will enable
our customers to hedge price exposure to the global crude market with greater
precision," said CME Group Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue.
"Additionally, Saudi Arabia's adoption of ASCI could spur demand for our new
sour crude futures contract, which will provide an additional pivot point for
price determination and risk management in the world oil market."
The vendor code for the ASCI contract is 29. The first listed month will be
the January 2010 contract month. The contract will be listed for 36
consecutive contract months.
For more information please visit
www.cmegroup.com/clearport.
As the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group
(
www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group
exchanges offer 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 commodities, metals, weather
and real estate. CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME
Globex® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and
Chicago. CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the largest central
counterparty clearing services in the world, which provides clearing and
settlement services for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for
over-the-counter derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort®. These
products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially
mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and over-the-counter
derivatives markets.
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