The New York Mercantile Exchange launches a Brent futures contract today at a new open outcry trading pit in Dublin to cash in on a decision by its London-based rival to extend electronic trading hours.
The new NYMEX contract will begin trading at 10 a.m. on the day London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) pushes back the start of open outcry trade to 2 p.m., running electronic only trade until then.
The IPE's decision to extend electronic trade is unpopular with many London traders, especially locals, who trade on their own account.
But supporters of electronic trade say it is more efficient than traditional open outcry.
NYMEX spokeswoman Ms Nachamah Jacobovits said more than 100 floor traders and clerks from London had signed up for the new exchange and traders from New York as well as the Dublin-based FINEX currency exchange would be present.
NYMEX has leased space from the New York Board of Trade's FINEX Dublin operation.