Trading in ICE WTI Crude Futures Hits Three Major Milestones: More Than One Million ...
Show HeadlinesIntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading electronic energy marketplace, announced three major milestones reached in the new ICE West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude futures contract launched February 3 at ICE Futures. As of March 8, total trading volume since launch exceeded the one million contract mark, as open interest exceeded 100,000 for the first time. The contract also achieved two consecutive days of record volume on March 7 and 8 of over 70,000 contracts.
Also on Wednesday, ICE Futures reached a new exchange-wide daily record of 385,505 contracts, 5.9% above the previous daily record of 364,064 contracts on February 7, 2006. In addition, the IPE Gas Oil futures traded at ICE Futures posted a new daily record of 98,474 contracts, exceeding the previous daily record of 94,646 contracts traded on January 11, 2006.
ICE WTI Crude futures set two consecutive volume records, with 70,500 contracts traded on March 7 and 71,174 contracts traded on March 8, compared to the previous record established on February 15 of 61,601 contracts. As of the close of trading yesterday, open interest in the contract reached 102,196 contracts. Total volume in ICE WTI Crude futures from February 3 through March 8 stands at 1,111,794 contracts.
The ICE WTI Crude futures contract trades electronically 21 hours a day, five days a week in the 37 jurisdictions globally where ICE Futures screens have been approved, including the U.S., the U.K., and throughout continental Europe and Asia. The ICE WTI Crude futures contract trades continuously from 1:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. local London time, or from 8:00 p.m. through 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Each crude futures contract is sized at 1,000 barrels, with the contract price quoted in U.S. dollars
and cents per barrel. The minimum price fluctuation is one cent per barrel, equivalent to a tick value of $10.00. A fee waiver on execution is in place for the ICE WTI Crude futures contract from launch through March 31, 2006. Thereafter, a contract execution fee of $0.70 per side will be in effect.
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts, including crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its markets for futures trading through its regulated subsidiary, ICE Futures (formerly the International Petroleum Exchange, or IPE), Europe's leading energy futures and options exchange. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including cleared OTC contracts, electronic trade confirmations and energy market data. ICE's common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2005. ICE is based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.theice.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the benefits associated with ICE WTI Crude futures. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-123500), as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange
Kelly Loeffler, VP, Investor and Public Relations of IntercontinentalExchange,
+1-770-857-4726, or kelly.loeffler@theice.com; or Ellen Resnick of Crystal Clear
Communications, +1-773-929-9292, or cell, +1-312-399-9295, or
eresnick@crystalclearPR.com
