Intercontinental Exchange, the operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, reported record trading in TTF Natural Gas and JKM LNG (Platts) contracts.
On January 30, 2019, TTF futures hit an open interest (OI) record of 1.04m lots. TTF futures and options combined achieved a monthly volume of 952.4 TWh in January, ICE said in a statement.
Average daily volume (ADV) and OI in TTF futures and options combined are up 103 percent and 64 percent, respectively, in January 2019, versus January 2018.
JKM LNG (Platts) futures traded a record 25,605 lots in January, an increase of 22 percent compared to the previous record of 20,916 lots set in November 2018, ICE said.
JKM LNG (Platts) hit an OI record on February 4, 2019, of 26,928 lots. ADV and OI in JKM LNG (Platts) are up 176 percent and 123 percent, respectively, in January 2019, versus January 2018. ICE reports OI net in line with standard industry practice.
ICE will launch JKM LNG (Platts) average price options on March 4, 2019, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of applicable regulatory processes.
“Europe’s vast energy infrastructure and geographical location allow it to provide a unique role as a balancing market for LNG. TTF and NBP are the two most liquid European natural gas benchmarks and, with its continued record trading activity, TTF is transforming into a global natural gas benchmark,” said Gordon Bennett , managing director, utility markets at Intercontinental Exchange.