There was 100% market participation by those who could trade the contract throughout the week.
A daily average of 116 lots was traded over the week, equivalent to 11,600 tonnes of gas oil per day. The front four months were filled with multiple orders indicating a good depth of market with much of the volume derived from spread trading. Today's traded volume was 480 lots indicating a growth in interest from the market to trade this period.
The IPE's Natural Gas futures contract traded on ETS II also benefited from the re-introduction of spread trading.
Jackie Bullimore, Head of Oil Markets, said "I am very pleased with the way the contract andtechnology performed this week. I am also delighted by the support our Members have shown with their high level of participation every day. The amount of trade that has taken place is encouraging and, because all trades will be included in the daily trade weighted average, I am sure that we will see volumes grow over time".
Steve Barraclough, Natural Gas Manager, said "spread trading functionality has been a welcome return to the Natural Gas futures contract and we have seen the market take advantage of this facility".
Richard Ward, Chief Executive, added, "I am pleased that we have successfully taken the first step towards implementing full electronic trading capability for one of our core products. We are now working on extending this capability to our other contracts, thus further complementing our successful open outcry system, with implementation planned for later this year".
