July 21, 2011

The World's Most Liquid Benchmark: Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) Futures and Options

Open interest in WTI Crude Oil futures (CL), the world's most liquid crude oil benchmark, sustained its impressive double-digit increases compared to the previous year, with growth of 23.9 percent as of July 18, 2011. Total weekly volume reached 3.46 million contracts last week and averaged 3.02 million contracts in the past four weeks. June's daily volume averaged a solid 718,873 contracts, an increase of 7.1 percent over June 2010.

The WTI Crude Oil Options Complex attained open interest of 6,916,101 contracts as of July 18, 2011. Total weekly volume reached 809,705 contracts last week.

To learn more about global benchmark Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures and options, please be sure to visit www.cmegroup.com/wti, where you will find a wealth of educational resources and up-to-the minute quote information.

Crude Oil Rule Change - E-mini Crude Oil Futures Adds Trading Venue

Effective trade date Monday, July 11, 2011, the Exchange has listed its financially settled QM: E-mini Crude Oil Futures contract for submission for clearing through CME ClearPort. The contract remains available for trading on the New York trading floor and on CME Globex.

For rates and fees, please read Special Executive Report 5831

The contract is listed with NYMEX, and continues to be subject to the rules and regulations of NYMEX and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.

For more information, please contact Daniel Brusstar, +1 212 299 2604; or Elizabeth Hui, +1 212 299 2623.

Natural Gas Contract Launch - Pine Prairie Energy Center (PPEC) Physically Delivered Monthly Basis Futures

Effective trade date Monday, July 25, 2011, the Exchange will list a new natural gas contract, PPE: Pine Prairie Energy Center (PPEC) Physically Delivered Natural Gas Monthly Basis Futures, which will be traded at a differential to the NG: Henry Hub Natural Gas Futures contract and will physically deliver upon expiration. The new contract will be listed for electronic trading on CME Globex and for clearing through CME ClearPort.

For rates and fees, read Special Executive Report 5811

The contract is listed with NYMEX, and subject to, the rules and regulations of NYMEX and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.

For more information, please contact Patrick McKinnon, +1 713 658 9299.

Natural Gas Rule Change - 20 Contracts Increase Expiration Month Position Limits

Effective on trade date Friday, July 15, 2011, the Exchange has increased the expiration month position limit for 20 natural gas futures and options contracts.

For a list of affected contracts, read Special Executive Report 5847

For more information, please contact Chris Reinhardt, +1 212 299 2882; or Ryne Toscano, +1 212 299 2879.

Petroleum Products Rule Change - Two Gasoil Administrative Amendments

Effective trade date Friday, July 15, 2011, the Exchange has amended the position limit and position accountability rules for two petroleum contracts. The contracts are:

• GEB: Gasoil 0.1% (Platts) Cargoes CIF NEW Crack Spread (1000 mt) Swap Futures
• 3U: Gasoil Crack Spread Average Price Option

For new rules, read Special Executive Report 5852.

For more information, please contact Chris Reinhardt, +1 212 299 2882; or Ryne Toscano, +1 212 299 2879.

Ethanol Rule Change - One Ethanol Swap Administrative Amendment

Effective trade date Friday, July 15, 2011, the Exchange has amended the Reportable Level rules for the YE: Ethanol (Argus) T2 FOB Rdam Including Duty Swap Futures contract.

For new rules, read Special Executive Report 5852.

For more information, please contact Chris Reinhardt, +1 212 299 2882; or Ryne Toscano, +1 212 299 2879.

Webinar - CME Energy Options Market Making

Speaker: Mark Horowitz, Associate Director of Metals and Energy Products, CME Group

 View webinar

As the need to hedge against price volatility in the crude oil market has grown in magnitude and complexity, so has the importance of CME Group's suite of crude oil options to contemporary risk management strategies.

In this webinar, options expert Mark Horowitz joins ORC Group's trading solutions team for a discussion of the key role that WTI Options play in mitigating risk in the oil markets, strategies for trading crude oil options, and the advances in risk management strategies made possible by CME Group's latest innovation, Short-Term Options on Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) Futures.

Access the Monthly Energy Update - Chart Book to view a global trading summary of energy markets, including product highlights, average daily volume, open interest, and historical volatility.

June Energy Trading Highlights

 For more information on Exchange energy products, please visit cmegroup.com/energy, or contact one of the following Exchange representatives:

FirstCall Market Squawk - An Integrated, Vocal, Bespoke Media Service

Be sure to check out FirstCall Market Squawk, which provides traders, brokers and private clients with an up-to-the-second audio alert service. Market Squawk aggregates market news, sentiment and trends as they develop - helping you to react quickly and confidently to daily events as their expert analysts and broadcasters provide you with valuable insight.

 For more information please visit http://fcmarketsquawk.com/about.

Professional Energy Market Commentary on www.cmegroup.com

Looking for energy market commentary, from the experts, updated throughout the day?

Be sure to check out the Energy Market Commentary, where you will find experienced perspectives to help you make smart energy trading decisions. Commentators include:

• Dominick Chirichella of the Energy Management Institute
• Stephen Schork of the Schork Report
• Dean Rogers and Cynthia Kase of Kase and Co.
• Experts from CME Group Energy

Daily commentaries provide a recap of each product's traded price activity, an analysis of the factors that influenced price activity, a recap of any reports released that day, and a pre-market look ahead at the next day's schedule.

Be sure to bookmark our market commentary section and take advantage of this convenient and comprehensive resource for a variety of asset classes - available at no cost!

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About CME Group

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group 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 the CME Globex electronic trading platform and 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.

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