NYMEX Announces It Will Postpone Listing Of October 2000 Gasoline Futures And Options Contracts

The New York Mercantile Exchange has decided to postpone listing its October 2000 New York Harbor unleaded gasoline contracts, reacting to a potential change by the Environmental Protection Agency in its oxygenation standards, eliminating the minimum per batch requirement while maintaining the annual average requirement. The October 2000 futures contract was scheduled to be introduced on Friday, October 1. The Exchange has announced its intention to continue listing at least nine months of trading in the contracts at all times. Exchange President R. Patrick Thompson said, "We reiterate our concern and strong objection to changes in environmental policy and regulation without consideration of market impact which disrupts every participant in the gasoline supply chain all the way down to the consumer level."