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IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), the leading electronic energy marketplace, today reported record activity during the month of August. Average daily volume (ADV) for ICE Futures, its London-based regulated futures subsidiary, totaled 406,037 contracts for an eighth consecutive monthly ADV record, an increase of 115.1% over August 2005. Average daily commissions in ICE’s over-the-counter (OTC) business segment in August rose 84.7% over August 2005, to $799,017.
Record-level total monthly volume in ICE Futures’ light sweet crude contracts, Brent Crude futures and ICE WTI Crude futures, as well as ICE Gas Oil futures contracts, produced an exchange-wide monthly volume record in August. For the third consecutive month, ICE Futures averaged greater than 50% market share in global crude futures as measured by volume of light sweet crude oil.
OTC Business Segment
In ICE’s OTC business segment, average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in the company’s electronic OTC markets. In August 2006, ICE’s average daily commissions increased 84.7% to a record $799,017 from $432,648 in August 2005. The increase in average daily commission was driven by ICE’s cleared OTC contracts, which include dozens of new cleared contracts introduced in 2006, new participants, and price volatility in energy commodities. During the month, increased risk-management activity was also associated with a prolonged heat wave in North America, the threat of hurricanes and geopolitical concerns.
|
Aug 2006
|
Aug 2005
|
% Change
|
|
| ICE OTC Average Daily Commissions |
$799,017
|
$432,648
|
84.7%
|
Futures Business Segment
At ICE Futures, August 2006 ADV rose 115.1% to 406,037 contracts compared to ADV of 188,757 contracts in August 2005. August ADV marked the eighth consecutive record month for ICE Futures, surpassing the previous ADV record set in July 2006 of 385,809 contracts by 5.2%. Total monthly futures volume also rose 124.9% to a record 9,338,843 contracts, compared to total monthly volume of 4,152,647 contracts in August 2005. The previous monthly record was set in July 2006 at 8,101,992 contracts.
ICE Brent Crude futures monthly volume totaled a record 4,044,472 contracts, and ADV was 175,847 contracts, an increase of 21.6% compared to August 2005, when Hurricane Katrina drove increased trading activity as a result of the impairment of production assets in the U.S. Gulf Coast. The ICE Brent Crude futures contract established a daily volume record of 252,296 contracts on August 10 and an open interest record of 529,019 contracts on August 7.
The ICE WTI Crude futures contract established a monthly volume record in August of 3,307,926 contracts and a new ADV record of 143,823 contracts, an increase of 16.6% over the previous ADV record set in July 2006. A daily volume record was established on August 7 of 241,503 contracts, and an open interest record of 328,340 contracts was established on August 18.
Monthly volume in ICE Gas Oil futures in August more than doubled compared to August 2005, to a record 1,854,735 contracts, an increase of 101.7% compared to August 2005. The contract set a new open interest record on August 2 at 280,559 contracts.
At August 31, 2006, total open interest in ICE Futures contracts stood at 1,168,445 contracts, after establishing a new open interest record of 1,201,553 contracts on August 7.
| Contract |
Total Volume Aug 2006
|
Total Volume Aug 2005
|
Volume % Change
|
ADV Aug 2006
|
ADV Aug 2005
|
ADV % Change
|
| ICE Brent Crude futures | 4,044,472 | 3,180,411 | 27.2 | 175,847 | 144,564 | 21.6 |
| ICE WTI Crude futures | 3,307,926 | n/a | -- | 143,823 | n/a | -- |
| ICE GasOil futures | 1,854,735 | 919,673 | 101.7 | 80,641 | 41,803 | 92.9 |
| Other contracts* | 131,710 | 52,563 | 150.6 | 5,726 | 2,390 | 139.6 |
| Total ICE Futures | 9,338,843 | 4,152,647 | 124.9 | 406,037 | 188,757 | 115.1 |
* “Other contracts” include ICE Heating Oil futures, ICE Unleaded Gasoline Blendstock (RBOB) futures, ICE UK Natural Gas futures, ICE-ECX CFI futures, ICE UK Electricity futures, ICE Coal futures, ICE Brent options and ICE Gas Oil options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures shares in the revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract.
Additional August Highlights:
- ICE Futures expanded the trading hours for key products beginning Monday, August 21, 2006, to 23:00 U.K time (6:00 p.m. ET) to further broaden access to energy market participants around the world.
- ICE Futures established a new exchange-wide daily volume record on August 7 of 567,361, exceeding a half-million in contract volume for the first time in its history.
- ICE Futures also marked numerous milestones in August, including the first time total market volume has exceeded 9 million contracts in a month, the first time average daily volume in a month has exceeded 400,000 contracts, the first time ICE Brent Crude futures volume has surpassed 4 million contracts in a month and the first time ICE WTI Crude futures volume has exceeded 3 million contracts in a month.
Additional historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at: https://www.theice.com/marketdata/recordsAndVolumes/volumes2006.jsp
