Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), one of the world's leading providers of financial market technology and data powering global capital markets, today announced record trading activity across options on ICE Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil and the price barometer for more than three-quarters of the world's internationally traded crude.
A record 28 million ICE Brent options contracts traded in the third quarter of 2026, alongside record average daily volume of more than 437,200 contracts during the quarter, up 63% year-to-date (YTD). Open interest across ICE Brent options is up 18% year-over-year at 4 million contracts.
“This has been the highest volume year for Brent options in ICE’s history. Energy market volatility is a factor for almost all markets and as the global benchmark, Brent is increasingly the most liquid instrument to manage price risk and express a view on where prices could go next,” said Jeff Barbuto, SVP, Global Head of Oil Markets at ICE. “ICE's share of global crude options volume, number of participants, number of new actively traded Brent options instruments and overall volume have been increasing year-over-year for more than a decade.”
“Whether market participants are hedging near-term event risk through weekly Brent options with daily expiries, long-dated exposure through monthly contracts, or average price risk, ICE offers the liquidity, product depth and margin efficiencies that come from trading their crude needs in one place,” continued Barbuto.
ICE offers products for managing risk at every point on the Brent curve, with ICE Brent underpinning more than 800 futures and options contracts across global oil markets, spanning crude oil, refined products, biofuels and wet freight. In addition to ICE Brent, ICE's global oil benchmarks include ICE Midland WTI (HOU), Platts Dubai and Low Sulphur Gasoil, giving customers the ability to price and manage risk across oil markets. Average daily volume is up 23% YTD across ICE Brent futures and options markets.
