Nymex To Substitute Position Accountability Requirements For Certain Position Limit Rules

The board of directors of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., has approved substituting position accountability requirements for the existing any one month and all months combined limits of its NYMEX Division futures contracts, beginning with the Friday, June 15, trading session.

The current all month net position limit levels will apply for accountability purposes for both all months and any single month. These are:

Crude oil 20,000
Unleaded gasoline 7,000
Heating oil 7,000
Henry Hub natural gas 12,000
Electricity (all delivery points) 5,000
Propane 1,500
Platinum 1,500
Palladium 625

Any market participant with positions exceeding these levels may be contacted by the Exchange with inquiries regarding their financial condition or hedging requirements. The Exchange would reserve the right to require that the position be capped or reduced.

There will no longer be any gross limits on the number of positions that can be held, as long as they are offset by positions on the opposite side of the market.

These new rules are also intended to apply to the Brent crude oil futures contract, planned for launch this summer. The board has approved a 20,000-contract position accountability standard and a minimum reporting level of 350 lots for that contract. The board has also approved increasing the minimum reporting level in light, sweet crude oil futures to 350 contracts from 300.

These rules closely resemble those in place for metals traded on the COMEX Division.

Exchange Chairman Vincent Viola said, "These amendments will ensure that the Exchange continues to provide the highest level of integrity and market oversight, while being responsive to requests by participants for greater flexibility."