In response to plummeting natural gas futures prices, the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) on Thursday announced some margin reductions for its natural gas futures, Henry Hub swap futures, Henry Hub penultimate swap futures, and Nymex miNY natural gas futures contracts at the close of business Friday.

The margin reduction for natural gas was the exchange’s second in the last two weeks (see Daily GPI, Jan. 18). Over the course of a month and a half, February natural gas futures have dropped $8.03 from the Dec. 13 high of $15.78 to Thursday’s intraday low of $7.75. The February contract expires Friday afternoon.

Nymex said Thursday that the margins on the second month of the natural gas futures contract will decrease to $8,000 from $9,000 for clearing members, to $8,800 from $9,900 for members, and to $10,800 from $12,150 for customers. Margins for the third to eighth months will increase to $7,000 from $6,500 for clearing members, to $7,700 from $7,150 for members, and to $9,450 from $8,775 for customers. For more details on Nymex’s margin rates go to https://www.nymex.com.

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