Notice to Members
Notice No. 286
07/10/2003
Exchange to Introduce Four Additional Natural Gas Basis Futures
The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., will introduce four additional natural gas basis swap futures contracts on July 17 for the July 18 trading session on NYMEX ClearPortsm.

The futures contracts are based on the differential between the Exchange's benchmark Henry Hub natural gas futures contract and Texas Eastern Transmission Co. East Louisiana and South Texas zones; Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. Zone 3; and Columbia Gulf Transmission onshore.

The contracts will begin trading on the system on July 17 at 3:15 PM, the same time trading will begin each Monday through Thursday, and will continue trading through 2:30 PM the following day and each Monday through Friday. On Sundays, trading will begin at 7 PM.

Other contract specifications are as follows:

Contract Unit
2,500 million British Thermal Units (mmBtu)

Trading Unit
Must trade in multiple consistent with the number of calendar days in the month

Price Reference
The Platts Inside FERC Gas Market Report for each location minus the Exchange's Henry Hub natural gas futures final settlement price

Trading Months
36 months

Price Quotations
U.S. dollars and cents per mmBtu

Minimum Price Fluctuation
$0.0025 per mmBtu

Settlement
Financial

Expiration
Last day of the month preceding the contract month

Symbols
TE — Tetco East Louisiana
TX — Tetco South Texas
CZ — Transco Zone 3
GL — Columbia Gulf onshore
Should you have any questions or require any further information, please contact exchangeinfo@nymex.com