-----Original Message-----
From: 	djcustomclips@djinteractive.com@ENRON [mailto:IMCEANOTES-djcustomclips+40djinteractive+2Ecom+40ENRON@ENRON.com] 
Sent:	Wednesday, May 23, 2001 6:35 AM
To:	168842@mailman.enron.com
Subject:	Rahil Jafry: ICE Opens Singapore Office;Eyes Asia Oil Derivative Trade

ICE Opens Singapore Office;Eyes Asia Oil Derivative Trade

05/23/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

  SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- The Intercontinental Exchange Inc., or ICE, has
opened an office in Singapore as part of a move to attract more Asian oil
derivative trade, an ICE spokeswoman said Wednesday.

  The spokeswoman said an office had been opened in Singapore because those in
London and the U.S. weren't sufficient to serve Asian customers. The volume
traded on ICE was increasing on a daily basis, she said.
  Asian derivatives offered by the Internet-based trading system include
Singapore gasoil, high sulfur fuel oil, kerosene and naphtha oil product
swaps, as well as Dubai and Tapis crude oil swaps.

  ICE hopes to eventually attract physical trade to its platform, but the
spokeswoman said this was complicated and would take some time to implement.

  Over-the-counter brokers in Singapore are under pressure from the system,
which they acknowledge is gaining market share at their expense. They also
face a challenge from a new forward curve trading platform offered by Platts,
a division of the Magraw-Hill Group of companies (MHP).

  Oil traders' opinions of the new system vary, but most say it's more
convenient, adding that, unlike ICE, the new Platts system may have
difficultly attracting sufficient liquidity.

  "It's easier to trade (oil swaps) on ICE," said one trader. He also pointed
to the anonymity ICE offered as an advantage.

  But he said physical trading on ICE would be difficult, and was unlikely to
threaten Platts' central role in the physical market. ICE swaps, as with OTC
swaps, will be settled against Platts' Singapore physical quotes.

  ICE is an Atlanta-based company owned by a number of oil companies and
traders, including oil majors BP PLC (BP), Total Fina Elf S.A. (TOT) and Royal
Dutch/Shell Group (RD). The system is unregulated.

  Revenue is generated through a commission on each trade.

  One trader working for an ICE equity holder said he wasn't obliged to trade
on the system, but did so anyway because he liked it.

  -By Jeremy Bowden, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-421-4814;
jeremy.bowden@dowjones.com



Folder Name: Rahil Jafry
Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 82

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