Contract Specifications

Henry Hub Natural Gas

Trading Unit
Futures: 10,000 million British thermal units (mmBtu).
Options: One NYMEX Division natural gas futures contract.

Price Quotation
Futures and Options: Dollars and cents per mmBtu, for example, $2.850 per mmBtu.

Trading Hours
Futures and Options: Open outcry trading is conducted from 10:00 A.M. until 2:30 P.M.
After hours futures trading is conducted via the NYMEX ACCESS® internet-based trading platform beginning at 3:15 P.M. on Mondays through Thursdays and concluding at 9:30 A.M. the following day. On Sundays, the session begins at 7:00 P.M. All times are New York time.

Trading Months
Futures: 72 consecutive months commencing with the next calendar month (for example, on January 2, 2002, trading occurs in all months from February 2002 through January 2008).

Options: 12 consecutive months, plus contracts initially listed 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, 66, 69, and 72 months out on a March, June, September, December cycle.

Minimum Price Fluctuation
Futures and Options: $0.001 (0.1¢) per mmBtu ($10.00 per contract).

Maximum Daily Price Fluctuation
Futures: $3.00 per mmBtu ($30,000 per contract) for all months. If any contract is traded, bid, or offered at the limit for five minutes, trading is halted for five minutes. When trading resumes, the limit is expanded by $3.00 per mmBtu in either direction. If another halt were triggered, the market would continue to be expanded by $3.00 per mmBtu in either direction after each successive five-minute trading halt. There will be no maximum price fluctuation limits during any one trading session.

Options: No price limits.

Last Trading Day
Futures: Trading terminates three business days prior to the first calendar day of the delivery month.

Options: Trading terminates at the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the expiration of the underlying futures contract.

Exercise of Options
By a clearing member to the Exchange clearinghouse not later than 5:30 P.M. or 45 minutes after the underlying futures settlement price is posted, whichever is later, on any day up to and including the options expiration.

Option Strike Prices
Twenty strike prices in increments of $0.05 (5¢) per mmBtu above and below the at-the-money strike price in all months, plus an additional 20 strike prices in increments of $0.05 per mmBtu above the at-the-money price will be offered in the first three nearby months, and the next 10 strike prices in increments of $0.25 (25¢) per mmBtu above the highest and below the lowest existing strike prices in all months for a total of at least 81 strike prices in the first three nearby months and a total of at least 61 strike prices for four months and beyond. The at-the-money strike price is nearest to the previous day's close of the underlying futures contract. Strike price boundaries are adjusted according to futures price movements.

Delivery Location
Sabine Pipe Line Co.'s Henry Hub in Louisiana. Seller is responsible for the movement of the gas through the Hub; the buyer, from the Hub. The Hub fee will be paid by seller.

Delivery Period
Delivery shall take place no earlier than the first calendar day of the delivery month and shall be completed no later than the last calendar day of the delivery month. All deliveries shall be made at as uniform as possible an hourly and daily rate of flow over the course of the delivery month.

Alternate Delivery Procedure (ADP)
An alternate delivery procedure is available to buyers and sellers who have been matched by the Exchange subsequent to the termination of trading in the spot month contract. If buyer and seller agree to consummate delivery under terms different from those prescribed in the contract specifications, they may proceed on that basis after submitting a notice of their intention to the Exchange.

Exchange of Futures For, or in Connection with, Physicals (EFP) or Swaps (EFS)
The commercial buyer or seller may exchange a futures position for a physical position or a swaps position of equal quantity by submitting a notice to the Exchange. EFPs and EFSs may be used to either initiate or liquidate a futures position.

Quality Specifications
Pipeline specifications in effect at time of delivery.

Position Accountability Limits
Any one month / all months: 12,000 net futures,but not to exceed 1,000 in the last three days of trading in the spot month or 5,000 in any one month.

Trading Symbols
Futures: NG
Options: ON

See Also: Natural Gas Futures and Options and Natural Gas Futures Special Report