Nymex struggles to rival IPE Brent trading

As investors have grown accustomed to trading Brent crude oil futures electronically since the International Petroleum Exchange closed its trading floor in London in April, the New York Mercantile Exchange is finding it difficult to make its presence felt in the trade of Brent futures as it waits for approval to open a planned open-outcry exchange in London.

The temporary exchange Nymex has opened in Dublin while it waits has had only limited success.

While the goal of Nymex is to gain control of trade in Brent futures from IPE, the volume of Brent contracts trade on IPE’s electronic exchange has grown to around 130,000 contracts per day, up from 100,000 per day before IPE went electronic.

In contrast, since Nymex opened its Dublin trading floor in December, its volume of Brent contracts traded has averaged only between 5,000 and 20,000 contracts per day.

At the same time, Nymex is looking for minority investors as the president of Nymex characterized the current climate in futures markets as one in which every exchange is talking to every other exchange in an attempt to form partnerships.

So far, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has expressed an interest in buying into Nymex.

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