09/23/2005
Trading FloorIn general, the Regular Trading Hours (RTH) session on the trading floor commences with price fluctuation limits in effect for each contract month of the applicable futures contract that are set at an initial level of a specified value above and below the previous day's settlement price for such contract month, specifically as follows:
- Crude Oil $10.00 per barrel
- Unleaded Gasoline $.25 per gallon
- Heating Oil $.25 per gallon
- Natural Gas $3.00 per MMBTU
Triggering Event and Temporary Trading Halt. If a market for any contract month is traded or, is bid in the case of upward price moves or is offered in the case of downward price moves, for five (5) minutes consecutively at the upper or lower price limit, as applicable, then a "Triggering Event" will be deemed to have occurred. As a result, the market will be given notice immediately that the market will be halted immediately for a five (5) minute temporary trading halt in all contract months of that futures contract, the associated option contract and related futures contracts listed for trading on the NYMEX ClearPort® Trading platform (“Temporary Trading Halt”) and, as applicable, any related NYMEX e-miNYsm contract listed on CME® Globex®.
Expansion of Limits Following Temporary Trading Halt. Following the end of the 5-minute Temporary Trading Halt, the market shall reopen simultaneously in all contract months of the applicable futures contract. In general, the initial limits are doubled in each direction as a result of the expansion. In addition, please note that a trading halt in crude oil, unleaded gasoline or heating oil would result in expanded price limits for all other floor traded-energy contracts except for natural gas and propane. By comparison, a trading halt and expansion of limits in natural gas would not affect price limits for any other floor-traded contract.
Final Fifteen Minutes of the Regular Trading Hours Session. Regardless of any prior action during the RTH session, there are no price limits applicable during the final 15 minutes of the RTH session.
NYMEX ACCESS®The provisions for price limits on NYMEX ACCESS® are generally similar to the RTH session. However, one significant difference concerns the Triggering Event. On NYMEX ACCESS®, an immediate trading halt will occur whenever a limit price is merely touched in the applicable futures contract, e.g., a bid that touches the upper price limit, and the trading halt will only be for such brief period of time (e.g., a minute or less) as is necessary for staff to expand the limits for the affected contracts. Once again, a trading halt in crude oil, unleaded gasoline or heating oil would result in expanded price limits for all other energy contracts except for natural gas and propane. By comparison, a trading halt and expansion of limits in natural gas would not affect price limits for any other NYMEX energy contract.
Exception for Last Trading Day of an Expiring Contract MonthFinally, for each of the major floor-traded energy contracts, there are no limitations on price fluctuations for any of the listed contract months for the futures contract during RTH or NYMEX ACCESS® sessions of the final trading day in the current delivery month of that futures contract.