HOUSTON (Reuters) -Total oil futures and options lots traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) hit record highs in the second quarter, as U.S. President Donald Trump waged a trade war and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East escalated. 

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Significant volatility in the second quarter had global benchmark Brent crude futures dropping to a four-year low of $60.23 a barrel on May 5 and then surging to $78.85 on June 19, the highest since January, according to data from LSEG.

CONTEXT

On April 2, Trump unveiled sweeping import tariffs. Retaliatory measures by China stoked recession worries and sparked a sell-off on April 4. 

In May, producer group OPEC+ expedited output hikes, boosting global supply and driving Brent prices down by May 5 to their lowest since February 2021.

Then, the war between Israel and Iran kept investors on edge and pushed Brent to a six-month high on June 19. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

Investors traded a total of 219,323,730 of oil futures and options to June from April, up from the previous record of 181,520,640 lots in the first quarter 2025.

The new record included 99,541,065 lots of Brent futures and 20,333,728 lots of Brent options. Traders also moved 30,056,174 lots of West Texas Intermediate (Cushing) futures and options, and 3,211,194 lots of Midland WTI (HOU) Futures.  

KEY QUOTE 

"I think hedging activity played a role, when prices dropped to $60 a barrel in Brent, oil consumers such as airlines started to hedge, and when prices spiked in mid-June, oil producing companies decided to hedge," said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS.

"At the same time, investors looked to either hold growth concerns positions in oil (short) or inflation concerns positions in oil (long) due to the tariffs," Staunovo added.