OREANDA-NEWS. Argus WTI Houston swaps futures listed on the CME exchange traded on 8 March for the first time since they launched last month. A number of six-month strips traded for the second half of 2016, with parties locking in WTI Houston at premiums of $1.50-1.55/bl to WTI Cushing. Trading the swaps is a step towards WTI Houston being used to price what could become a robust Gulf coast crude export market. The CME paper contracts enable physical traders, financial institutions and others to hedge price exposure to the market for light sweet crude at the Texas coast. The contracts lock in the differential between WTI Cushing and WTI Houston.