Significance of Cushing waning as output heads to Gulf Coast
Record trading volumes on Houston contracts
Liquidity along Gulf Coast to boost hedging, arbitrage opportunity
Cushing stocks near operational low

HOUSTON, Sept 27 Reuters Rising U.S. crude oil exports are boosting the prominence of Gulf Coast price benchmarks and buoying trading volumes on Houston contracts, eroding the significance of the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub.

Since U.S. WTI Midland crude oil transactions joined the dated Brent price assessment a year ago, U.S. oil exports have overshadowed the role of Cushing as a storage and pricing hub, traders and analysts said.

Cushing has been the delivery and pricing point for West Texas Intermediate crude futures WTI on the New York Mercantile Exchange NYMEX since 1983. The benchmark is currently used to price major U.S. crude grades for physical delivery, trading at a differential to WTI.

However, not long after the U.S. lifted its ban on crude exports in 2015 amid a shale boom that turned the country into the world39;s top producer, both the Intercontinental Exchange and CME Group, which owns NYMEX, launched contracts to trade and deliver crude from Midland, Texas, to terminals around Houston.

Average daily volumes on CME39;s WTI Houston contract more than doubled so far in September to a record high year on year, the exchange said.

An alltime high of over 18 million barrels were delivered against ICE39;s competing HOU contract, compared with less…