CME Group Announces Trading Volume Record in Henry Hub Natural Gas Futures

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Jan 24, 2012, 03:04 ET

CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced a record in daily trading volume for its benchmark Henry Hub Natural Gas futures contract. These contracts are listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.

Henry Hub Natural Gas trading volumes surged yesterday to 824,316 contracts, a 48 percent increase over the previous record of 557,179 set on January 17, 2012, and a 170 percent increase over the average daily volume of 305,017 contracts in 2011.

"Our Henry Hub futures contract is the leading benchmark for the North American natural gas market, which accounts for almost a quarter of energy in the U.S.," said Gary Morsches, Managing Director, Global Energy at CME Group. "It's the second most-actively traded futures contract in the world based on a physical commodity and is a key part of our global suite of energy products, which traded an average of 1.8 million contracts a day in 2011.

Henry Hub Natural Gas futures have set a total of 11 new open interest records since the start of 2012, including a Jan. 19 record of 1,162,553 contracts.

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago. CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for over-the-counter derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort®. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and over-the-counter derivatives markets.

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SOURCE CME Group