Notice No. 02-81
March 20, 2002

TO:                 	ALL NYMEX DIVISION MEMBERS AND MEMBER FIRMS
                        ALL NYMEX DIVISION CLEARING FIRMS
                        ALL NYMEX DIVISION OPERATIONS MANAGERS
FROM:            J. Robert Collins, Jr., President
SUBJECT: 	MARGIN RATE CHANGES FOR HENRY HUB SWAP (NN) AND NATURAL GAS
(NG) FUTURES.
Effective Date: 		Thursday, March 21, 2002 (close of business)
Futures Contracts:		Natural Gas (NG), Henry Hub Swap (NN)
Futures
Contract Months:		All Months
Rate Change:

NYMEX Division Outright Margins on Natural Gas and Henry Hub Swap Futures
Contracts
				Clearing			Member

				Member			Customer
Non-Member
				New	Old		New	Old
New		Old
Tier 1 (1st Nearby Month):		$4,000	$2,500		$4,400
$2,750	    $5,400	$3,375
Tier 2 (2nd Nearby Month):		$3,500	$2,500		$3,850
$2,750	    $4,725	$3,375
Tier 3 (3rd  - 6th Nearby Months):	$3,000	$2,000		$3,300
$2,200	    $4,050	$2,700
Tier 4 (7th   - 12th Nearby Months): 	$2,500	$1,500		$2,750
$1,650	    $3,375	$2,025
Tier 5 (13th and greater):		$2,500	$1,500		$2,750
$1,650		$3,375	$2,025
Current systems calculate the margin requirement for spread positions by
first determining the "Scan Risk" and then multiplying the number of spreads
by a rate set by the Exchange.  Scan Risk is determined by netting the
outright margin required for each leg of a spread.  Spreading between
differently margined contracts results in a higher spread margin than
between equally margined contracts.  Below is provided an example where the
legs of a spread are margined differently.
Scan Risk Example at Clearing Member Rates
A spread consisting of one futures leg in Tier 1 and another in Tier 2 will
have its requirement (at the clearing member rates) calculated at $1,000
starting on Thursday, March 21, 2002.

One Long Tier 1 NG or NN	(1 * $4,000)	=	$4,000
One Short Tier 2 NG or NN (1 * $3,500)	=	- $3,500
Net Scan Risk ($4,000-$3,500)		=	$   500
Spread Rate	(1* $500)			+	$   500
Total Requirement				=	$1,000
Scan Risk Example Summary
Margin on a Spread Between a Tier 1 and Tier 2 Futures Contract
Clearing Member (Maintenance Margin):	$1,000
Member Customer (Initial Margin):		$1,100
Non-Member Customer (Initial Margin):	$1,350


 Inter-Month Spread  Margins on Natural Gas and Henry Hub Swap Futures
Contracts
				Clearing	Member	Member Customer
Non-Member
Tier 1 (1st Nearby Month):		 $500			$550
$675
Tier 2 (2nd Nearby Month):		 $250			$275
$237
Tier 3 (3rd  - 6th Nearby Months):	 $250			$275
$237
Tier 4 (7th   - 12th Nearby Months): 	 $250			$275
$237
Tier 5 (13th and greater):		 $100			$110
$135

The inter-commodity spread margins will be $0 between Natural Gas (NG) and
Henry Hub Swap (NN) futures contracts. Spread credits between Henry Hub Swap
futures and all other NYMEX energy products will be the same as the Natural
Gas spread credits.
Should you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact Arthur
McCoy at (212) 299-2928 or Joe Sanguedolce at (212) 299-2855.  This notice
supersedes all previous notices regarding outright and spread margins for
the NYMEX Natural Gas (NG) futures contract and the NYMEX Henry Hub Swap
futures contract.