The turnover of ICBC's account-based crude oil investment product has continued to hit historical records, due to substantial fluctuations in international oil prices. In the last quarter of 2014, the Bank's account-based crude oil product posted the highest daily trading volume of over one million barrels. Into 2015, the frenzy of account-based crude oil investment has continued. January 13 witnessed the birth of a new record, with the highest daily trading volume rising to 2.366 million barrels.

Account-based crude oil is a new investment and trading product launched by ICBC in March 2013, the first of its kind in Chinese market. It is also an innovative financial service by which customers can buy or sell RMB- or USD-denominated crude oil units without delivering physical crudes. So despite changes in oil prices, investors stand the chance of earning money by being long or short on the product. After completing the risk tolerance assessment and product feasibility evaluation at the Bank's outlets or e-channels, customers can access the account-based crude oil business, and perform operations such as transaction, pending order and inquiry via ICBC's internet banking and telephone banking portals. The business features flexible trading methods, convenient channels, a low threshold on fund requirements, a long term and real-time clearing; and comprises the North American account-based crude oil linked to WTI crude oil futures and the international account-based crude oil linked to Brent crude oil futures.

According to an ICBC official, crude oil prices are, to a certain degree, related to the prices of everyday gasoline and diesel. Therefore, in addition to gaining investment returns, individual customers can also hedge against the price fluctuation risk associated with crude-related commodities by trading in account-based crude oil and achieve the goal of value preservation. Meanwhile, to better meet the investing and trading needs of customers, the Bank has stepped up innovation by launching the rollover function for account-based crude oil, and "short selling" on account-based crude oil. For the "short selling" service for example, if a customer sells 100 barrels to open a position for a price of USD50/barrel, and buys 100 barrels to close the position for a price of USD45/barrel, he/she can earn USD 500 from the transaction.