VOL. XLIII

No. 20

15-May-2000

E-COMMERCE

Quiet Start For Trading Of NYMEX Middle Eastern Sour Crude Contract

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) saw a quiet start to trading of its new Middle Eastern sour crude oil futures contract, which began at 4pm US Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 4 May. MEES understands that only 20 contracts of 1,000 barrels of oil were traded on the first day, while on the second day only five contracts changed hands.

A NYMEX official told MEES that initial trading was...