CFTC Warns Traders Oil Prices Can Turn Negative Again

With just one week left until the expiration of the June WTI contract, whose open interest is still a whopping 270K contracts equivalent to 270 million barrels that may soon require a physical delivery spot…

… and some traders getting flashbacks to the catastrophic oil price crash on April 20, today the CFTC poured gasoline on the smouldering fire when it warned that oil futures contracts could again trade with negative prices during the coronavirus pandemic.

As Bloomberg and Dnyuz reports, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will advise exchanges to monitor their markets and remind them to “maintain rules to provide for the exercise of emergency authority”, including the power to “suspend or curtail trading in any contract” if markets become disorderly, according to an advisory notice to be released on Wednesday.

“We are issuing this advisory in the wake of unusually high volatility and negative pricing experienced in the May 2020 West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures contract on April 20,” says the eight-page advisory signed by the CFTC’s heads of market oversight, clearing and risk, and swap dealer and intermediary oversight.

Clearing houses “should prepare for the potential that certain contracts may experience significant price volatility, and that negative pricing is a possibility”, the advisory said adding that “we are issuing this advisory in the wake of unusually high volatility and negative pricing experienced in the May 2020 physically-delivered WTI contract, and related reference contracts.”

The alert comes after the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil contract plunged below $0 a barrel last month for the first time, as buyers searched for places to store a glut of oil. 

The WTI contract for June delivery is scheduled to expire next Tuesday, raising the prospect of a repeat of the chaotic final two trading days in the May oil contract, which settled at minus $37.63 a barrel on April 20.

The move caused losses for countless retail traders and at least one futures broker, and sparked widespread criticism of an oil benchmark referenced by drillers, refiners, consumers and investors.A senior CFTC official said its notice applied to all contracts, not just oil, and did not represent a forecast that negative oil prices would return. “We are not predicting the market. We’re just suggesting planning,” the official said. 

Brokers “should prepare for the potential that certain contracts may experience significant price volatility and, possibly, negative pricing,” the CFTC said. 

Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers disclosed a $104m loss as it compensated customers who were stuck in last month’s trading around the May WTI contract. GH Financials, another broker, has since required all traders to exit front-month energy contracts five days before expiry. 

Exchanges list futures contracts and operate electronic trading platforms, while clearing houses pool margin and other collateral to guarantee trades. In WTI futures, both the exchange and clearing house are operated by CME Group, the world’s largest exchange company based in Chicago.

CME first warned traders and brokers of the prospect of negative oil prices on April 8. It reiterated the possibility a week later. Intercontinental Exchange, which lists oil contracts in London, has also enabled its systems to permit negative prices. 

Terry Duffy, CME chief executive, told CNBC last month that his company worked with regulators for two weeks before announcing that negative oil prices would be allowed. “So this was no secret that this was coming at us,” he said.

The CME and ICE clearing houses have also been preparing for negative pricing by switching the way they calculate pricing for options on the WTI benchmark.