New York Mercantile Exchange Achieves Historic Annual Volume

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., set an annual volume record of 204,611,147 contracts in 2005, shattering the previous record of 163,122,155 contracts set in 2004.

The annual total includes a record 166,608,252 Exchange–wide futures contracts and a record 38,002,895 Exchange–wide options contracts, which surpassed the 2004 records of 133,248,596 futures contracts and 29,873,559 options contracts.

Total NYMEX Division annual volume set a record of 175,039,622 futures and options contracts, surpassing the previous record of 133,987,398 contracts set in 2004. The 2005 total also includes a record 141,201,951 futures contract traded on the NYMEX Division, surpassing the previous year's record of 110,020,060 contracts. NYMEX Division options traded a record 33,837,671 contracts, surpassing the 2004 record of 23,967,338 contracts.

Total energy futures traded reached 112,306,937, topping the 2004 record of 96,994,298 contracts.

New York Harbor heating oil futures set an annual volume record of 13,135,581 contracts, breaking the previous year's record of 12,884,511 contracts traded.

Gasoline futures set a record of 13,166,417 contracts traded in 2005, surpassing the 2004 record of 12,777,442 contracts.

Crude oil futures reached 59,650,468 contracts in 2005, surpassing the record 52,883,200 contracts traded in 2004. Crude oil options set a record with 14,726,263 contracts, surpassing the record 11,512,918 contracts traded in 2004.

The Brent crude oil futures contract traded 986,534 contracts traded, surpassing 135,895 contracts traded in 2004.

NYMEX miNY^TM futures volume grew by 624% with 6,204,653 contracts traded in 2005, compared to the 856,544 contracts traded in 2004. This total includes a record 5,682,214 NYMEX miNY^TM crude oil futures contracts, which shattered the 2004 record of 720,421 contracts, and a record 522,439 NYMEX miNY^TM natural gas futures contracts, which surpassed the 2004 record of 136,123 contracts.

COMEX Division futures contracts traded a record 25,406,301 contracts, exceeding the 2004 annual volume record of 23,228,536.

Metals futures volume reached a record 26,104,403 contracts, exceeding the 23,791,783 record contracts traded in 2004.

Gold futures reached 15,890,617 contracts in 2005, surpassing the 14,959,617 contracts traded in 2004.

A record 3,950,842 copper futures contracts traded in 2005, beating the previous year's record of 3,190,625 contracts.

Palladium futures traded a record 321,923 contracts, exceeding the 267,552 contracts traded in 2004.

Other annual volume highlights include:

• Central Appalachian coal futures volume grew by 275% to a record 28,058 contracts, up from 7,490 contracts traded in 2004.
  
• Crude average price options traded 45,250 contracts surpassing last year's volume of 23,622 contracts.
  
• Gasoline average price options traded 5,841 contracts last year, surpassing the 2004 volume of 300 contracts.

Exchange President James E. Newsome said, "Last year was a remarkable year for the Exchange community. We launched NYMEX Europe Limited in London, developed a partnership create the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, and opened offices in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. We also experienced unprecedented activity on both divisions of the Exchange. We enter 2006 with great enthusiasm to continue our global expansion, introduce new products and services, and provide our members and customers with the most effective risk management tools in the industry."
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