The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group - the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace - said that it was launching trading and clearing services for cash-settled swap futures on the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI), which is the new benchmark for Saudi oil. The contract is scheduled to launch Nov. 23 on the NYMEX trading floor and will be cleared through CME Clearport. The ASCI tracks the price in the physical market of a basket of US Gulf Coast crude oils, including Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon, which are priced at a differential to the NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) according to a CME Group release. Argus Media said Wednesday its Sour Crude Index will be adopted by Saudi Aramco to set prices for oil sold in the US, in a move away from a formula tied closely to light, sweet crude futures traded on theNYME. From January, Saudi Arabia will base the price of oil for its US customers on a new index developed by Argus, the London-based oil pricing company. CME also plans on launching a physically delivered US Gulf Coast Sour Crude Oil futures contract, which will be listed on CME Globex and CME ClearPort by the end of January 2010. The group also launched the OTC swaps on the S&P GSCI Crude Oil Excess Return and the S&P GSCI Gold Excess Return Indices, as well as Forward contracts for the S&P GSCI Excess Return Index, to begin trading Nov. 2.
