The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has added to its roster of natural gas over-the-counter contracts it is investigating to determine if they perform a significant price-discovery function and qualify for CFTC restrictions.

The five added Tuesday trade on the Canadian Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX). They join natural gas and electric contracts trading on IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), which the agency singled out for investigation early in the month (see Daily GPI, Oct. 8).

The NGX contracts include:

The CFTC already has designated ICE’s Henry Hub contract as having a significant price-discovery function, thereby coming under agency rules regarding position limits, emergency authorities and large-trader reporting rules (see Daily GPI, July 28).

And it has named 13 ICE natural gas financial basis contracts at heavily traded points for study, including the PG&E Citygate; Waha; Malin; HSC; Dominion-South; AECO; Permian; TCO; San Juan; TETCO-M3; Zone 6-NY; Chicago; and NGPL TxOk. The agency said the points were chosen based on trading data provided by the exchanges. It is allowing 15 days from the date the notices appear in the Federal Register for comments and is expected to pull the named contracts under its wing in the near future.

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