Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) and Magellan Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: MMP) launched an auction for a portion of multi-month Permian West Texas Intermediate (WTI) storage capacity at the Magellan East Houston Terminal, the companies said Feb. 14.

Recently, a total of 1.5 million barrels (MMbbl) of Permian WTI storage at the Magellan East Houston Terminal were leased on the ICE trading platform, with an average of 400,000 bbl leased per month. The auctions are designed to help bring additional transparency and efficiencies to the storage and transportation of crude oil in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The facility has 8 MMbbl of active capacity and the ability to further expand storage at the terminal. The auctions are being hosted on the ICE trading platform to automate the process and improve transparency and efficiencies.

“At a time when North America is producing and exporting record amounts of crude oil, this opportunity brings together the trading technology and risk management capabilities of ICE’s auction model and futures markets with Magellan’s extensive oil storage and transportation operations in the Gulf region,” Jeff Barbuto, Intercontinental’s global head of oil sales, said. “This is a solid first step towards developing new contracts in the U.S. Gulf Coast region through our alliance with Magellan,” said.

ICE is home to the world’s global crude and refined oil markets. Around half of the world’s oil futures are traded on ICE’s markets, including futures and options on the global benchmark ICE Brent crude, the U.S. benchmark WTI crude, gasoil, heating oil and RBOB gasoline, as well as hundreds of additional grades and oil products.