NYMEX Sets Annual Volume Records In November

The New York Mercantile Exchange set several annual volume records in November. The records include: Exchange-wide futures and options, which traded 102,375,309 contracts, surpassing the 95,018,685 contracts traded in 1998. Exchange-wide futures with 86,423,919 contracts exceeding the 80,011,517 contracts traded in 1998. Exchange-wide options, which traded 15,951,390 contracts, topping the 15,007,168 contracts traded in 1998. Total NYMEX Division futures and options traded 83,061,557 contracts as versus the 76,482,995 contracts traded in 1998. Total NYMEX Division futures reached 70,558,467 contracts, exceeding the 64,392,578 contracts traded in 1998. Total COMEX Division options trading with 3,448,300 contracts surpassed the 2,080,067 contracts traded in 1987. Total options activity on the NYMEX Division reached 12,503,090 contracts, topping 12,090,417 contracts traded in 1998. Energy futures, with 69,960,883 contracts, surpassed 63,733,059 contracts traded in 1998. Crude oil futures, which traded 35,389,688 contracts, as versus 30,495,647 contracts traded in 1998.Natural gas futures with 17,804,381 contracts, which exceeded the 15,978,286 contracts traded in 1998. Unleaded gasoline futures trading at 8,085,548 contracts topping the 7,992,269 contracts traded in 1998. Crude oil options trading activity with 7,658,448 contracts surpassed the 7,448,095 contracts traded in 1998.Natural gas options trading reached 3,550,983 contracts, as versus the 3,115,765 contracts traded in 1998. Exchange President R. Patrick Thompson said, "These records are continued evidence of the explosive growth of our markets. Overall volume is up 17% over last year. The Exchange is on track for a record year for the third year in a row and the 17th of the last 20 years."