CME Seeks 24/7 Oil Trading with New Futures Contract Proposal

CME Group is seeking to launch a new West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract for 24/7 trading, alongside a similar always-on gold futures product. The CFTC is reviewing the proposal and has not publicly indicated it intends to block it.

The new WTI crude oil futures contract would be 10 barrels in size, making it one-tenth the size of CME's existing Micro WTI futures. This smaller contract size aims to address liquidity concerns by attracting retail and smaller institutional participants who can add liquidity across more time zones.

Regulators have historically been cautious about extending trading hours for commodity contracts due to concerns about market manipulation risk and systemic vulnerabilities. The argument made by CME and ICE in May centered on the need for regulators to scrutinize crypto-native trading platforms, with Hyperliquid receiving particular attention.