Following up on previously announced plans, the board of directors of the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) unanimously voted Wednesday to offer both cash-settled and physically delivered Nymex Division energy futures contracts for trading on CME Globex, the electronic trading platform of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

First announced in April (see Daily GPI, April 7), Nymex said the deal would bring access to electronic trading of Nymex products “virtually 24 hours a day” on the CME Globex electronic trading platform. At the time of the initial phase of the launch, scheduled for the second quarter, Nymex will offer cash-settled energy futures contracts for all listed months. The second phase of the launch will offer physically delivered energy futures contracts no later than six months from the initial launch.

The new Nymex board, under Chairman Richard Schaeffer, also voted to increase the maximum order limit size for all Nymex miNY futures contracts to 999 contracts. In addition, it approved an exchange of futures for swaps mechanism for crude oil futures. Nymex will also be adopting CME Globex electronic trading hours.

“Nymex is excited to offer this additional avenue into its hugely popular and successful energy complex,” said Schaeffer. “Market participants may continue to rely on the price transparency and liquidity they have grown to expect from Nymex while utilizing the highly respected CME Globex electronic trading platform.”

Nymex CEO James E. Newsome said, “The future of Nymex will be shaped by its pairing with the CME to provide futures markets participants the best of both worlds, while significantly expanding access to Nymex energy contracts through the CME Globex global distribution network.”

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