Record-level volume in ICE Futures’ light sweet crude contracts, ICE Brent Crude futures and ICE WTI Crude futures, as well as ICE Gas Oil futures, produced an exchange-wide volume record for the month of July. For the second consecutive month, ICE Futures averaged greater than 50% market share in global crude futures as measured by volume of light sweet crude oil.
OTC Business Segment
In ICE’s OTC business segment, average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in the company’s electronic OTC markets. In July 2006, ICE’s average daily commissions increased 85.9% to a record $593,821 from $319,438 in July 2005. The growth in average daily commissions was driven by ICE’s cleared OTC contracts, which include dozens of new cleared contracts introduced in 2006, new participants, and price volatility in energy commodities.
|
July 2006
|
July 2005
|
% Change
|
|
| ICE OTC Average Daily Commissions |
$593,821
|
$319,438
|
85.9%
|
Futures Business Segment
At ICE Futures, July 2006 ADV rose 125.5% to 385,806 contracts compared to ADV of 171,056 contracts in July 2005. July ADV marked the seventh consecutive record month for ICE Futures, surpassing the previous ADV record set in June 2006 of 353,058 contracts by 9.3%. Total monthly futures volume also rose 125.5% to a record 8,101,932 contracts, compared to total monthly volume of 3,592,177 contracts in July 2005. The previous monthly record set in June 2006 was 7,767,267 contracts.
ADV and monthly volume in the ICE Brent Crude futures contract represented new records with a 43.0% increase over July 2005. ICE Brent Crude futures monthly volume totaled 3,783,010 contracts and ADV was 180,143 contracts. The ICE Brent Crude futures contract also established a daily volume record of 241,114 contracts and an open interest record of 488,736 contracts on July 31.
The ICE WTI Crude futures contract established a monthly volume record in July of 2,591,243 contracts and a new ADV record of 123,393 contracts for the month, an increase of 6.6% over the previous ADV record set in June 2006. Daily volume and open interest records were established on July 13 of 178,960 contracts and 270,559 contracts, respectively.
Monthly volume in ICE Gas Oil futures in July increased 83.4% compared to July 2005, to a record 1,620,441 contracts. The contract set a new daily volume record on July 10 of 110,498 contracts, and a new open interest record on July 27 at 279,386 contracts.
At July 31, 2006, total open interest in ICE Futures contracts stood at 1,115,111 contracts, after establishing a new open interest record of 1,115,409 contracts on July 30.
| Contract |
Total Volume July 2006
|
Total Volume July 2005
|
Volume % Change
|
ADV July 2006
|
ADV July 2005
|
ADV % Change
|
| ICE Brent Crude futures | 3,783,010 | 2,644,671 | 43.0% | 180,143 | 125,937 | 43.0% |
| ICE WTI Crude futures | 2,591,243 | n/a | -- | 123,393 | n/a | -- |
| ICE GasOil futures | 1,620,441 | 883,328 | 83.4% | 77,164 | 42,063 | 83.4% |
| Other contracts* | 107,238 | 64,178 | 67.1% | 4,272 | 3,056 | 67.1% |
| Total ICE Futures | 8,101,932 | 3,592,177 | 125.5% | 385,806 | 171,056 | 125.5% |
* “Other contracts” include ICE Heating Oil futures, ICE Unleaded Gasoline Blendstock (RBOB) futures, ICE UK Natural Gas futures, ICE-ECX CFI futures, ICE UK Electricity futures, ICE Coal futures, ICE Brent options and ICE Gas Oil options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures shares in the revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract.
Additional July Highlights:
- ICE completed a secondary offering for 8.8 million shares.
- As of June 30, 2006, ICE was added to the Russell 1000® Index.
- ICE Futures introduced two new coal futures contracts on July 17.
- ICE listed an additional 13 cleared OTC natural gas and power contracts on July 7, bringing the new cleared products listed since March to 56 contracts, for a total of 80 cleared contracts now available on the ICE platform.
- ICE opened a telecommunications hub to serve the New York metropolitan area during July, adding to its regional hubs in London, Chicago and Singapore.
Additional historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at: https://www.theice.com/marketdata/recordsAndVolumes/volumes2006.jsp
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading global, electronic marketplace for trading both futures and OTC energy contracts. ICE offers a range of contracts based on crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its futures markets through its regulated London-based subsidiary, ICE Futures, Europe’s leading energy exchange. ICE Futures offers liquid markets in the world’s leading oil benchmarks: Brent Crude futures and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude futures, as well as the leading heating oil futures contract by traded volume. ICE introduced the concept of cleared OTC energy contracts and today offers the most liquid and transparent electronic OTC market in North America. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including customized energy market data offerings through its ICE Data business unit and electronic trade confirmations. ICE was added to the Russell 1000® Index on June 30, 2006. Headquartered in Atlanta, ICE also has offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore, with regional telecommunications hubs in Chicago, New York, London and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.theice.com.
