CME Auction: U.S. Crude Oil
WTI Houston CrudeCME Platforms Inc and Enterprise Products Partners LP, a leading North American provider of midstream energy services, will partner to create the first electronic auction of U.S. crude oil export cargoes priced based on NYMEX WTI Houston (HCL) futures.
The electronic auction will provide a competitive and transparent venue for firms across the world to efficiently hedge U.S. crude oil.
The third CME Auction of U.S. Gulf Coast light sweet crude oil was held on Wednesday, September 4. The winning bid was $0.41/bbl premium to WTI Houston.
- Auction floor price will be benchmarked against NYMEX WTI Houston (HCL) futures
- Held as two-minute electronic auction, which can extend by 15-second increments if a bid is placed within 15 seconds of the close
- Bids cannot be removed or lowered, only bettered
- All bids are anonymous
- Winner will have the option to choose quantity from a defined range provided by the seller
- Final quantity submitted directly in the platform as soon as the auction is complete
- Once matched, winner will work directly with seller on physical delivery and is subject to the seller’s general terms and conditions
Easily access CME Auction through CME Direct with your CME Group Login.
To get started, agree to the terms and conditions and complete the user agreement form below.
| WTI Houston Crude Oil Futures | WTI Houston Crude Oil Option | |
| Contract Code | HCL | HCO |
| Settlement | Physical | Physical (Exercise into futures) |
| Contract Size | 1,000 Barrels | 1,000 Barrels |
| Tick Size | $.0.01 | $.0.01 |
| Expiration Calendar | Same as CL | Same as LO |
| First Contract Listed | January 2019 | January 2019 |
| Exercise Style | — | American |
| Gravity | 40-44 API | — |
| Sulfur | 0.275% or less | — |
| Nickel | 4 ppm or less | — |
| Vanadium | 4 ppm or less | — |
CME Platforms Inc and Enterprise Products Partners together provide the best environment for Crude Oil auctions. See what each company brings to the auction.
CME Platforms Inc, a subsidiary of CME Group, home to the most liquid crude oil benchmark in the world, WTI (CL), is the anchor for U.S. export pricing, offering round-the-clock liquidity for traders in all regions. Available as a spread to WTI (CL), the growing WTI Houston (HCL) provides firms access to the most robust infrastructure network in Houston, leading to a broader, more transparent U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil price.
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is one of the largest midstream energy companies in the world and a leading North American provider of services linking producers and consumers a full range of hydrocarbon products, including crude oil. Assets include approximately 50,000 miles of pipelines; 260 million barrels of storage capacity for crude oil, NGLs, refined products and petrochemicals; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.
With a network of 19 ship docks along the Gulf Coast, Enterprise is the leader in crude infrastructure in the Houston area and the largest exporter of crude oil in the nation.
Through its network of pipelines, storage and marine terminals, Enterprise has the capability to aggregate more than 4 million barrels per day (BPD) of various grades of crude oil and averaged more than 800,000 BPD of exports in the second quarter of 2018 with access to approximately 45 million barrels of crude oil storage, 24 million barrels in Houston.
The ECHO terminal, which has 7.4 million barrels of crude oil storage, is connected to every refinery in the Houston area, as well as a network of pipelines from the major producing basins, terminals and import/export docks. From the Permian Basin, Enterprise transports crude oil to Houston through the Midland-to-ECHO pipeline system, which has 575,000 BPD of capacity.
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