Owain Johnson

Author · Commodity & Financial Markets

Owain Johnson

Global Head of Research and Product Development at CME Group, and author of books and academic articles on commodity trading, price benchmarks and financial markets.

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Portrait of Owain Johnson

Professional life

From journalist and market analyst to leading research and product development at CME Group.

  • March 2019 – present

    CME Group

    Managing Director, Global Head of Research and Product Development · London

    The research and product development team develops new risk management products, ensures the continued relevance of CME Group’s key benchmarks, and produces original research into derivatives and their underlying markets, across asset classes and around the world.

  • November 2016 – March 2019

    CME Group

    Managing Director, Energy Research & Product Development

    Ensured the integrity of CME Group’s energy futures benchmarks, including WTI, Henry Hub, GME Oman, RBOB and NYH ULSD. Developed new risk management products for the global energy industry and undertook original research.

    In the newsCME to hire DME’s Owain Johnson to target energy FOW, 21 November 2016

  • August 2012 – November 2016

    Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME)

    Managing Director, Chief of Products & Services · Dubai, UAE

    Responsible for the overall performance of the exchange (also known as the Dubai Mercantile Exchange) and its flagship Oman crude oil contract.

    In the newsDubai Mercantile Exchange Appoints CME Group’s Owain Johnson as Chief of Products and Services PR Newswire, 7 June 2012

  • April 2010 – July 2012

    CME Group, Singapore

    Executive Director

    Covering Asian energy and commodity markets, part of four years in Singapore in total.

  • Earlier career

    Argus Media and other pricing and media companies

    Journalist, then commodity market analyst

    Began as a journalist, then spent around a decade as a commodity market analyst in the UK and South America, before joining Argus Media in Singapore. Have lived and worked in Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela, Singapore, Dubai and London.

Industry roles

  • Chair, Term SOFR Oversight Committee
  • Chair, GME Oman Oversight Committee
  • Chair, World Federation of Exchanges Sustainability Working Group
  • Board member, Gulf Mercantile Exchange
  • Board observer, Kemiex AG
  • Member, ISDA Sustainable Finance Working Group
  • Co-chair of the international advisory group behind the UN SSE Initiative’s 2021 report on derivatives exchanges and sustainable development

Education

  • Degree from Cambridge University
Full career history on LinkedIn
Owain Johnson speaking on a panel at the Bloomberg Commodity Investor Forum
Speaking at the Bloomberg Commodity Investor Forum, September 2026

Published work

Four books with Routledge. Click a cover to read more or buy.

Cover of The Price Reporters: A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks

The Price Reporters

A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks · 2018

The first guide to price reporting agencies, such as S&P Global Energy (Platts), Argus Media, OPIS, Fastmarkets and ICIS, whose benchmarks influence billions of dollars of commodity trade.

View at Routledge →
Cover of 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades

40 Classic Crude Oil Trades

Real-Life Examples of Innovative Trading · 2022

Forty real trades and strategies, carried out by named market participants, from the early days of the modern oil market to today.

View at Routledge →
Cover of Treasury Bond Futures and Options

Treasury Bond Futures and Options

With Eric Leininger, Jonathan Kronstein and Agha Mirza · 2026

A reference handbook on how U.S. Treasury futures and options work, covering trading, hedging, delivery and regulation.

View at Routledge →
Cover of 40 Classic Trades in the Environmental Markets

40 Classic Trades in the Environmental Markets

Real-Life Examples of Innovative Trading · 2026

Forty real-life trades across carbon, biofuels, biomass and water, told by the market participants who made them.

View at Routledge →

Foreign language editions

Chinese edition cover: 全球大宗商品作价指南

全球大宗商品作价指南

Chinese edition · Zhejiang University Press

Chinese translation of The Price Reporters.

View edition →
Chinese edition cover: 40个经典原油交易

40个经典原油交易

Chinese edition · China Financial & Economic Publishing House

Chinese translation of 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades.

View edition →
Japanese edition cover: 原油トレードの魔術師

原油トレードの魔術師

Japanese edition · Pan Rolling · 2026

Japanese translation of 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades.

View edition →

Promo video

Chinese edition of 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades

Made for the Chinese edition (Mandarin, with subtitles).

Podcasts

Conversations about my books and the markets behind them.

Podcast · The HC Insider Podcast

40 Classic Crude Oil Trades with Owain Johnson

26 January 2022 · 43 min

I talk through the thinking behind 40 Classic Crude Oil Trades, walk through four representative stories from the book, and share what I learned about what makes a successful trader.

Listen to the episode

Podcast · This Week in Carbon

From a Jerry Can to Tankers: The Traders Who Built Environmental Markets

With Rene Velasquez · July 2026

A conversation about the people who built the environmental markets from scratch, from the acid rain scheme of the early 1990s to today's voluntary carbon futures. It draws on the stories in my book 40 Classic Trades in the Environmental Markets.

Thought leadership

Research, commentary and policy work on commodity, derivatives and environmental markets.

UN SSE Initiative

Voices from the Exchanges: Owain Johnson (CME Group) on Environmental Markets

Article · 12 August 2026

Well-run environmental markets, starting with the U.S. acid rain programme, have improved the environment cost-effectively, and exchanges and traders are what keep them working.

Read the article

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

The State of ‘Speculative Positions’ in Oil Derivatives: Less Is Not More

Energy Comment · December 2025 · With Amanda Townsley

Oil derivatives are trading at record volumes, but commercial firms increasingly dominate while financial participants decline. We look at why that matters for liquidity, price discovery and risk-bearing.

Read at OIES

Commodity Insights Digest · Bayes Business School

40 Classic Crude Oil Trades: Real-Life Examples of Innovative Trading

Practitioner Insights · Winter 2025

An article on the book’s profiles of 40 real crude oil trading strategies and the traders behind them, covering their backgrounds, working habits, shared traits and career advice.

Read the article (PDF)

UN SSE Initiative

How Derivatives Exchanges Can Promote Sustainable Development

Joint paper · 5 May 2021

I co-chaired the international Advisory Group behind this report, which sets out practical steps derivatives exchanges can take to make their operations and the wider market more sustainable.

YouTube

Exchanges and the Roll Out of New Sustainability Products

Panel discussion · FIA IDX 2021

An in-person panel discussion on how exchanges are developing and launching new sustainability products, recorded live at the FIA’s International Derivatives Expo (IDX) 2021.

Watch on YouTube

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Introduction to Oxford Energy Forum, Issue 113

May 2018 · With Bassam Fattouh

Introduces an issue examining how oil price benchmarks have evolved, the pressures on the established ones, and whether changes in fundamentals, trade flows and regulation will bring new benchmarks.

Read the issue (PDF)

Selected articles