At first, the CAO primarily used derivatives as a hedging instrument to hedge its risk inherent in its primary business of physical oil procurement and trading. However, as stated in the PwC report, at the end of March 2003, CAO entered into speculative option trades where it sought to profit from favourable market movements. Strategically, CAO took the view that the market price for oil would continue its trend upwards. For its trades in options, it purchased calls and sold puts,