CME Group launched a new futures contract representing 10 barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude, priced at approximately $860 at current market rates, significantly lowering the entry barrier for retail traders. The 100-barrel Micro WTI futures averaged 272,000 contracts per day in May, a 317% year-over-year increase, while eToro reported that oil trades surged to nearly 16 times their previous level in the three months following late February. Online brokers, ETFs such as the United States Oil Fund, and smaller futures contracts have enabled a democratization of oil trading previously dominated by institutional investors and commodity houses. Market analysts note that while greater retail participation adds liquidity, professional and commercial flows continue to dominate benchmark pricing, as state producers, major energy companies, and large industrial consumers maintain control over production, consumption, and inventories.
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