Trading in the benchmark IPE Brent Crude futures contract yesterday set a new daily volume record of 232,995 contracts, compared to the previous record of 230,922 contracts established on August 10, 2005. Open interest in the Brent contract stands at 397,163.
Also yesterday, ICE Futures began listing Brent - WTI Crude futures spreads covering 39 months in its electronic markets. Execution of spread trades between the IPE Brent Crude futures contract and the ICE WTI Crude futures contract are now available with a single click. The margin offset for the crude futures contracts is 85% through LCH.Clearnet.