Rapid increases in U.S. oil output and exports over the past two years are forcing some traders and producers to try alternative ways of pricing crude. While the market benchmark remains West Test Intermediate crude delivered in Cushing, Oklahoma, there has been a surge in trading of futures contracts tracking the price differences between WTI and oil sold in Gulf Coast ports like Houston and the Permian shale fields near Midland, Texas. Holdings of spread contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped from almost nothing after the U.S. ended a ban on exports in 2015 and domestic output nearly doubled. The transactions reflect big changes in the American market and are fueling calls for a new pricing benchmark linked to the coast rather than […]