Intercontinental Exchange, a global network of exchanges and clearing houses, today announced that ICE Futures Europe has successfully completed its transition of the ICE Gasoil futures contract (G) with a low sulphur specification beyond January 2015 contract months. The re-specified ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil futures contract retains the contract code ‘G’ and runs from the February 2015 contract month onward to the December 2021 contract.
The revised specification reflects a parallel move in underlying physical European gasoil markets toward low sulphur grades in recent years. The previous contract specification was based on a maximum sulphur content of 0.1% (1,000ppm) and ceased trading today, with the expiry of the January 2015 contract month.
Open interest in the ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil futures contract (ULS) beyond February 2015 was transitioned to the ‘G’ equivalently-specified contract, and that contract code also ceased trading today with the January 2015 expiry.
“ICE Gasoil continues to evolve with market requirements to offer the deep liquidity and versatility of a global benchmark. With the revised 10ppm specification, ICE Gasoil aligns with European clean fuel requirements, while also serving as a global hedging instrument for the world’s diesel markets. I would like to thank our market participants for working with us through the extensive consultation process and the transition to the new specification,” said David Peniket, President and COO, ICE Futures Europe.
ICE Futures Europe recently achieved two consecutive record daily volumes in ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil contracts across the ‘G’ and ‘ULS’ codes on 8 and 9 January, 2015, with 263,136 lots and 299,752 lots traded, respectively.
Total open interest for the ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil futures stands at 468,757 contracts as of 9 January, 2015.
