China's crude oil futures: Frazzle or dazzle for foreign traders?

China’s crude oil futures, to be launched on Monday, will be a major step in Beijing’s years-long push to win greater sway over oil pricing, but for western traders it will likely bring frustration as well as opportunity.
 
Shanghai Crude aims to rival the world’s two crude benchmarks, luring overseas traders with the promise of a deep pool of liquidity and the chance for arbitrage between Asian, US and European markets.
 
However, the contract will also come with quirks that traders used to London’s Brent or U. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) may find less appealing, including shorter business hours, unique Chinese trading habits and extended holiday breaks.

 

Yuan-denominated trading and a blend of new rules and regulatory burdens will also likely hamper initial take-up on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, executives at a dozen banks and brokers and experts involved in the launch said. “The rules around trading methodology will be unfamiliar for western houses,” said John Browning, chief operating officer of Hong Kong-based futures broker Bands Financial Ltd.