Nymex Launch Cleared-Only Energy Oprions On March 22

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., announced today that it will introduce four cleared-only energy options contracts on NYMEX ClearPort^sm clearing beginning March 21 for the March 22 trading session.

The cleared-only options contracts for crude oil, natural gas, heating oil, and gasoline will allow market participants to negotiate their own strike prices and premiums on any contract month for which there is an underlying futures contract and submit the transactions to the Exchange clearinghouse through NYMEX ClearPort^sm.

The Exchange also announced that it will extend the business hours to enter transactions for clearing services on NYMEX ClearPort^sm to 2:40 PM from 2:30 PM.

The new options contracts are European-style and are settled only on expiration day. The contracts will be settled in cash and will not be exercisable into the underlying futures contracts.

The symbol for the European-style crude oil options contract will be LC; for natural gas, LN; for New York harbor heating oil, LB; for New York harbor gasoline; LG. Exchange President J. Robert Collins, Jr., said, "Off-Exchange options transactions have become a popular way for market participants to tailor risk management strategies to their particular circumstances. These products offer our customers the ability to extend to these customized transactions protection against counterparty credit risk and the financial security of the Exchange clearinghouse."