CME shelved 24/7 oil futures as clients shunned weekend desks, CEO Duffy says

By Pritam Biswas and Utkarsh Shetti

Oct 21 (Reuters) - CME Group CME.O shelved its proposed 24/7 crude oil futures contract mainly because commercial clients were unwilling to staff weekend trading desks, CEO Terry Duffy said, while warning that the lack of such markets was driving participants to illicit offshore platforms.

The world's leading derivatives marketplace had scrubbed the planned launch of the contract earlier this month, after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in July blocked its bid to offer the futures.

CME's initial proposal for the contract, one-tenth the size of existing Micro WTI futures, would have provided a regulated venue for weekend hedging - a growing necessity as geopolitical events frequently roil global energy markets when traditional trading desks are closed.

Since the start of the year, oil traders have dealt with an increasingly uncertain environment as the constantly shifting dynamics of the US-Israeli war on Iran have made it more difficult to prepare for drastic swings in prices.

Trading in the exchange's other freshly launched 24/7 categories has proved successful so far, with gold and silver futures marking between 20% and 30% of their overall average daily volume during the weekends.

"Commercials are looking to make sure that they have the big contract where they want it, and we support that. They did not want to staff up another desk," Duffy said. "We respect that there's cost to moving to 24/7 on any product."

UNREGULATED ALTERNATIVES

Duffy warned that traders were turning to offshore markets that were not allowed for US participants, referring to unregistered foreign exchanges offering perpetual futures contracts.

"Participants are trading on what is called a VPN, and they're trading overseas on markets that our US participants are not supposed to be participating on...," Duffy said, adding he was surprised the CME contract was held up by the CFTC given the current environment.

The stalled oil contract points to a much broader structural hurdle for global finance. While exchanges have the technology to trade continuously, the traditional banking, clearing, and settlement infrastructure remains strictly bound to a five-day schedule.

Duffy told analysts that while all financial products are ultimately destined for 24/7 trading, the transition cannot happen without a massive overhaul of the financial plumbing.

"It is a signal that it will take time for the US to build out necessary infrastructure supporting 24x7 operations, while offshore platforms could take advantage of it and continue to grow," said Owen Lau, managing director at Clear Street.

COMPUTE FUTURES

AI financing risks have become one of Wall Street's hottest debates, with the focus increasingly centered around the massive debt burden needed to fund an expansive infrastructure buildout.

Exchange operators such as ICE and CME, as a result, have looked to launch futures tied to the cost of compute to allow firms to hedge their exposure, though regulatory approval still remains pending.

CME executives touted significant opportunities for the product, pointing to early demand from banks, neoclouds and data center operators.

The exchange beat estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, helping its shares climb nearly 1% after having gained about 9% so far in 2026.

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(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

((UtkarshUmesh.Shetti@thomsonreuters.com;))