NEW YORK & LONDON & AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the importance of pricing global gas markets continues to grow amid the liberalization of natural gas, Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, is registering record levels of open interest across its North American, European and Asian gas benchmarks. Open interest in Total Natural Gas Futures at ICE hit a new record of more than 18.5 million contracts during the second quarter of 2020.
In ICE’s North American gas complex, dynamic US shale production has stimulated activity. With futures open interest at record levels, up 30% year-over-year, market share has increased as commercial traders return to Henry Hub-related hedging in response to increased volatility in the North American market. Open interest in ICE’s U.S. Basis contracts, which are used to manage exposure to natural gas at different delivery points throughout North America, set a series of records during April and May, and hit a new high of more than 10.1 million contracts on May 1, 2020. ICE offers 60 different basis locations to trade, enabling customers to mitigate their risk at locations across North America.
At the same time as new highs are recorded in North America, the globalization of natural gas is propelling the growth of the ICE TTF and JKM LNG (Platts) futures into benchmarks relied on by commercial participants around the world. As uncertainty has been rising in both supply and demand dynamics across the world, these traders are increasingly utilizing the breadth and depth of liquidity in ICE’s natural gas and oil benchmarks to help manage risk and optimize their natural gas portfolios.
As a result, open interest in TTF futures and options has increased by more than 70% year-over-year, while JKM futures and options open interest has increased by more than 100% year-over-year. In May 2020, JKM hit record open interest of more than 100,000 contracts.
The momentum behind the ICE TTF contract is driven by Europe’s unique role as the global balancing market for LNG which is cementing its utility as a risk management tool for customers to hedge their natural gas price risk. This is leading TTF to become increasingly internationalized, while at the same time, the record growth in the use of JKM futures reflects its increasing prominence as Asia’s natural gas benchmark.
“We are pleased to support our customers who turn to our benchmarks to manage the volatility they are facing in natural gas markets and are grateful for the trust they put in us,” said Ben Jackson, President of Intercontinental Exchange. “We are witnessing TTF evolve into the global benchmark for natural gas, similar to the critical role Brent plays in pricing global oil markets. The momentum behind ICE’s gas benchmarks is attracting more and more participants who are using these benchmarks to manage their exposure to risk at this volatile time.”
As home to the broadest range of natural gas benchmarks, ICE is a lynchpin in providing price transparency and data to help the market navigate and manage risk from the globalization of natural gas. ICE’s global natural gas complex spans trading hubs from the US and Canada to Europe and Asia, underpinned by an offering of more than 600 financially and physically-delivered contracts.
About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company formed in the year 2000 to modernize markets. ICE serves customers by operating the exchanges, clearing houses and information services they rely upon to invest, trade and manage risk across global financial and commodity markets. A leader in market data, ICE Data Services serves the information and connectivity needs across virtually all asset classes. As the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, the company is the premier venue for raising capital in the world, driving economic growth and transforming markets.
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Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the SEC on February 6, 2020.
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Source: Intercontinental Exchange
