Shanghai’s new yuan-denominated derivatives contract is set to propel global crude oil futures trading volumes to a record high in 2018, eating into the market share of the two most active crude contracts, Brent and WTI. Launched in late March by Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE), China’s first serious attempt to establish an Asian oil price benchmark has seen strong take-up, grabbing a spot market share of around 6 percent versus international Brent LCOc1 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1, taken equally from both benchmarks. Spot crude oil volumes have more than doubled globally over the past five years, but exchange data shows Brent and WTI activity will dip this year for the first time since 2013. Brent and WTI volumes slipped to 207.2 million lots […]