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The battle between the London-based International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) for control of the Brent futures market looks set to head into the final stages, with the imminent move of Nymex's Dublin-based trading floor to London. Bets are that IPE will triumph, but no one is ruling out Nymex just yet.
The US exchange said last week it expects to launch its London open-outcry trading floor on Sep. 12, offering Brent crude oil futures and options and Northwest Europe gas oil futures. It says the London floor, at 131 Finsbury Pavement, is ready to go, but the opening is still subject to final approval from UK regulatory authorities. Nymex submitted its final application for approval to the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) on Apr. 7 and says it is confident of getting the green light by Sep. 12 (EC May27,p3). Although some questioned the wisdom of making an announcement in advance, Nymex says it had FSA approval to reveal the launch date.
Nymex introduced its pit-based Brent futures contract in Dublin in November 2004 with the aim of attracting traders who didn't like the IPE's decision to stop open-outcry trading in the mornings -- a process set in train in June 2001 when the IPE was...