Nymex President Commends AGA On Earlier Storage Data Release

R. Patrick Thompson, president of the New York Mercantile Exchange, today commended the American Gas Association (AGA) for its announcement that, effective March 1, it would begin releasing gas storage data earlier on Wednesdays to coincide with open outcry trading hours. The AGA currently releases the previous week's information on working gas in storage every Wednesday between 4 and 4:45 P.M. It announced last week that it intended to begin making this information available between 2 and 2:15 PM. Mr. Thompson said, "We are appreciative of the AGA's responsiveness to the views of the Exchange and many of those in the natural gas industry that releasing this information significantly before the close of open outcry futures trading at 3:10 P.M. will introduce greater market efficiency by allowing participants to transact their business in possession of the fullest information possible."