CHICAGO, Aug. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced multiple open interest and volume records in its crude oil complex.

• Yesterday, August 8, open interest for NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures contracts reached a new record of 1,900,710, compared to 1,892,425 on August 7, 2013.
• On Tuesday, August 6, open interest for NYMEX Brent (BZ) crude oil futures reached a record of 64,506, compared to 63,708 on August 2, 2013.
• Yesterday, August 8, NYMEX Brent futures had record trading volume of 90,390 contracts, compared to 68,893 on July 19^th. In July, average daily volume for NYMEX Brent futures was the highest ever, at 50,679.
• On August 1, open interest for CME Group's suite of Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS) contracts reached a new record of 52,645, compared to the old record of 50,234 set on July 31.

"With record open interest and volumes across multiple products, we're also seeing a record number of participants in our in our crude oil complex from all sectors of the market, including commercial hedgers, banks, hedge funds  and proprietary trading firms," said Gary Morsches, Managing Director, Global Energy. "Whether customers choose to use our benchmark NYMEX WTI contract or our growing NYMEX Brent contract, CME Group offers a robust and diverse portfolio of contracts for managing risk in global crude oil and refined products markets."

NYMEX Light Sweet Crude oil, NYMEX Brent and NYMEX Louisiana Light Sweet futures contracts are listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.

About CME Group
As the world's leading 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 world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  KCBOT, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group