Mercantile

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has extended its energy market dominance into the over-the-counter (OTC) market by clearing $1.5 billion in OTC instruments since starting OTC clearing at the end of May. As of Nov. 1, Nymex has cleared 441.1 trillion Btus of gas and 152,800 MWh of power.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has set new annual volume records with 110 million futures and options contracts changing hands through Oct. 25, which exceeded the previous record of 109.5 million set in 1999. Natural gas futures volume set a new record at 20.73 million, which exceeded the previous record of 19.2 million set in 1999. The exchange also broke volume records for, among other things, total options (21.98 million), Nymex Division futures and options (95.78 million), Nymex futures (75.87 million), energy futures and options (95.58 million) and energy futures (75.67 million). Exchange President J. Robert Collins said the records, along with a 30% increase in overall trading volume over the same period last year and record seat values on the NYMEX Division, show the industry’s confidence in the exchange and its method of trading. “Not evident in these numbers is over-the-counter clearing activity, which, since its introduction on May 31, has seen more than $1.1 billion in trades cleared at the Exchange,” he added.

Records were broken at the New York Mercantile Exchange during the first half of the year, as the continuing credit and financial crisis in the energy industry following Enron’s bankruptcy forced many companies to turn to the exchange instead of to the megamarketers and industry counterparties to lay off risk and execute trading strategies. Nymex said it set records for overall volume and a host of subcategories, including large increases in gas futures and options trading.

March madness continued at the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday after the American Gas Association (AGA) announced that a whopping 140 Bcf was pulled from underground storage facilities last week. Despite coming at the high end of the 110-140 Bcf range of expectations, the withdrawal initiated a selling surge that dropped the April contract to $2.87 just moments following the release of the report. The April contract closed at $2.87, down 14.8 cents for the session and just off its $2.85 low etched just before the close.

The New York Mercantile Exchange announced that a record 34,552 futures contracts were traded on its ACCESS trading system Tuesday night. The previous record for overnight trading was 27,323 contracts on Oct. 13, 1999. The only time more volume was traded on ACCESS was during the special daytime session on Sept. 14 when 69,790 contracts were traded. Exchange President J. Robert Collins Jr. said, “This is the most recentindication we have received of satisfaction with and enthusiasm for the Internet-based version of Nymex ACCESS, which was introduced on an expedited basis following the World Trade Center attack. Since its introduction, we have experienced heavier than normal volumes each night and positive feedback from every segment of the trading community.”

The board of directors of the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has approved a series of measures to offer credit intermediation through clearing services and trading tools for the over-the-counter (OTC) natural gas market. The plan will include the introduction of exchange of futures for swap (EFS) transactions and large-order execution to the natural gas futures market within the next few weeks, along with the previously announced electronic trading of cleared natural gas swaps and basis contracts.

The New York Mercantile Exchange re-opened Friday for a two-hour Internet-based, eNymex Access trading session, making it the first New York exchange to resume trading, three and a half days after terrorists ripped the heart out of Wall Street with the destruction of the World Trade Center. Nymex, whose regular address is just a few hundred yards away from where the Trade Center used to be, ran Friday’s trading from an off-site location. It had suspended natural gas futures trading before the opening of the regular open-outcry session on Tuesday, after the first plane hit the Trade Center at 8:45 a.m. EDT.

The New York Mercantile Exchange decided not to have an abbreviated Access trading session yesterday, but will attempt to schedule a session on Friday for all contracts currently listed on Nymex Access. The exchange previously had said it would work toward having a two-hour session Thursday afternoon.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) said it has electricity, and it plans to resume futures trading operations as soon as its building, which is in close proximity to the World Trade Center in New York City, is safely accessible. Nymex said it plans to clear any trades made on Sept. 11 against Sept. 10 settlement prices and will post these trades during the next trading session.