NYMEX Sets Monthly Volume Records In NYMEX miNY<SUP>TM</SUP> Futures Contracts

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. announced today that all of its NYMEX miNY^TM futures contracts set monthly volume records in March.

Total NYMEX miNY^TM futures set a monthly record of 1,267,822 contracts traded, exceeding the 1,032,580 contracts traded in February.

NYMEX miNY^TM crude oil futures reached 983,304 contracts, surpassing the previous record of 951,613 contracts traded in September 2005.

The NYMEX miNY^TM natural gas futures contract set a monthly volume record of 251,386 contracts traded. The previous record of 210,528 contracts was set in February.

The NYMEX miNY^TM heating oil futures reached 18,051 contracts, exceeding the 16,452 contracts traded in February .

A record 15,081 NYMEX miNY^TM gasoline futures contracts traded last month, surpassing the 7,831 contracts traded in February.

James E. Newsome, NYMEX president and chief executive officer, said, "The volume of NYMEX ClearPort® clearing continues to grow as the industry embraces the contracts and NYMEX's trading technology. We are pleased that the NYMEX miNY^TM futures contracts have become such widely used risk management tools."