CME Group Inc. (CME) cut the collateral that traders must put up to trade its crude-oil futures contract Thursday, according to a memo circulated to traders.

The exchange operator cut the margin requirements because of a recent decline in volatility, a CME spokesman said.

Speculators must now put up an initial margin of $8,100 to trade a contract for light, sweet crude-oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from $8,438. To keep the contract open overnight, traders must maintain $6000 of that initial margin, down from $6,250.

CME, which owns the Nymex, also cut both the initial and maintenance margin requirements for hedgers and exchange members to $6,000 from $6,250.

-By Dan Strumpf, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2818; dan.strumpf@dowjones.com.

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