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Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading global network of exchanges and clearing houses, announced that several daily volume records were set in energy including Brent Crude options, Low Sulphur Gasoil futures and coal options on December 16, 2014:
- Brent Crude Options - 151,354 lots traded (the previous record of 127,237 was set on September 26, 2012)
- Low Sulphur Gasoil Futures – 138,590 lots traded (the previous record of 110,602 was set on December 10, 2014)
- Coal Options - 12,390 lots traded (the previous record of 8,190 was set on October 15, 2014)
Since 2012, ICE Brent has consolidated its role as the world’s largest and most globally relevant crude oil futures contract in terms of liquidity and volume traded. ICE Brent Crude options have grown rapidly in recent years, reflecting the growing importance of the Brent benchmark. Traded option volumes so far in 2014 average 52,459 contracts per day, up 36% on 2013.
Low Sulphur Gasoil futures across the ‘G’ and ‘ULS’ code contracts now represent more than 75% of total open interest for Gasoil futures at ICE Futures Europe. Open interest currently stands at 363,135 contracts in the low sulphur specification futures. The ICE Gasoil futures (G) contract will complete the transition to a 10ppm low sulphur gasoil specification with the expiry of the January 2015 contract on the 12th of that month, and will be renamed ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil futures (G). The open interest in the previous ULS contracts from February 2015 onwards has been transitioned to the new G equivalent contract. The transition reflects increased market demand for a lower sulphur grade contract.
ICE has a comprehensive coal options offering for API 2 Rotterdam, API 4 Richards Bay and gC Newcastle, which include monthly expiry options, single expiry options and early single expiry options. ICE is the only venue where gC Newcastle futures and options can be traded.
