CME faces potential regulatory hurdle as CFTC reviews 24-hour oil contract proposal

CME Group wants to trade oil around the clock, every day of the week. The CFTC is taking its time deciding whether to let that happen.

The exchange operator announced on June 11 its plan to launch a new West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract designed specifically for 24/7 trading, alongside a similar always-on gold futures product. The oil contract is targeted for an August 30 launch, pending regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

What CME is actually proposing

The new WTI crude oil futures contract would be 10 barrels, making it one-tenth the size of CME’s existing Micro WTI futures. CME’s current WTI crude futures already offer near-round-the-clock access throughout the trading week, with a brief daily break. The new contract would eliminate even that gap, creating truly continuous trading.

The gold futures product is on a faster timeline. CME has slated 24/7 gold trading to begin on July 26, roughly a month before the oil contract would follow.