OREANDA-NEWS. October 23, 2012. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world's biggest lender by market value, plans to launch a crude oil accumulation investment plan by as early as the end of this year, two sources told.

The investment product, which will be denominated in US dollars, will track Brent and West Texas Intermediate

crude oil prices, said a company source with direct knowledge of the matter.

"All the preparatory work has been completed. The product will likely be launched either at the end of this year or early next year," the source said.

ICBC declined to comment. Sources said the crude oil investment plan will be similar to the gold savings plan ICBC launched in 2010, whereby investors will put aside a fixed sum of money every month to buy crude oil every trading day in that month.