Trading Unit
Heating Oil Futures: 42,000
U.S. gallons
(1,000 barrels).
Heating Oil Options: One
NYMEX Division
heating oil futures contract.
Trading Hours
Futures and Options: 9:50
A.M. to
3:10 P.M., for the open outcry session.
After-hours trading is
conducted via
the NYMEX ACCESS® electronic trading system from 7 P.M. to 9 A.M.
on
Sundays and 4 P.M. to 9 A.M., Mondays through Thursdays. All times are
New York time.
Trading Months
Heating Oil Futures: Trading
is conducted
in 18 consecutive months
commencing with the next
calendar
month (for example, on October 2, 1998, trading occurs in all months
from
November 1998 through April 2000).
Options: 18 consecutive
months.
Price Quotation
Heating Oil Futures and
Options: In
dollars and cents per gallon: for example, $0.5277 (52.77¢) per
gallon.
Minimum Price
Fluctuation
Heating Oil Futures and
Options: $0.0001
(0.01¢) per gallon ($4.20 per contract).
Maximum Daily Price
Fluctuation
Heating Oil Futures: Initial
limits
of $0.06 (6¢) per gallon are in place in all but the first two
months
and rise to $0.09 (9¢) per gallon if the previous day’s settlement
price in any back month is at the $0.06 per gallon limit. In the event
of a $0.20 (20¢) per gallon move in either of the first two
contract
months, limits on all months become $0.20 per gallon from the limit in
place in the direction of the move following a one-hour trading halt.
Options: No price limits.
Last Trading Day
Heating Oil Futures: Trading
terminates
at the close of business on the last business day of the month
preceding
the delivery month.
Options: Trading ends
three business
days before 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 option’s expiration.
Options Strike
Prices
Twenty strike prices in
one-cent-per-gallon
increments above and below the at-the-money strike price, and the next
ten strike prices in five-cent increments above the highest and below
the
lowest existing strike prices for a total of at 61 strike prices. The
at-the-money
strike price is the nearest to the previous day’s close of the
underlying
futures contract. Strike price boundaries are adjusted according to the
futures price movements.
Delivery
Heating Oil is F.O.B.
seller’s facility
in New York Harbor, ex-shore. All duties, entitlements, taxes, fees,
and
other charges paid. Requirements for seller’s shore facility:
capability
to deliver into barges. Buyer may request delivery by truck, if
available
at the seller’s facility, and pays a surcharge for truck delivery.
Delivery
may also be completed by pipeline, tanker, book transfer, or inter- or
intra-facility transfer. Delivery must be made in accordance with
applicable
federal, state, and local licensing and tax laws.
Delivery Period
Deliveries may only be
initiated the
day after the fifth business day and must be completed before the last
business day 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)
The commercial buyer or
seller may
exchange a futures position for a physical position of equal quantity
by
submitting a notice to the Exchange. EFPs may be used to either
initiate
or liquidate a futures position.
Grade and Quality
Specifications
Generally conforms to
industry standards
for fungible No. 2 heating oil.
Inspection
The buyer may request an
inspection
for grade and quality or quantity for all deliveries, but shall require
a quantity inspection for a barge, tanker, or inter-facility transfer.
If the buyer does not request a quantity inspection, the seller may
request
such inspection. The cost of the quantity inspection is shared equally
by the buyer and seller. If the product meets grade and quality
specifications,
the cost of the quality inspection is shared jointly by the buyer and
seller.
If the product fails inspection, the cost is borne by the seller.
Position Limits
7,000 contracts for all
months combined,
but not to exceed 1,000 in the last three days of trading in the spot
month
or 5,000 in any one month.
Margin Requirements
Margins are required for
open Heating
Oil futures or short options
positions. The margin
requirement
for an options purchaser will never exceed the premium.
Trading Symbols
Futures: HO
Options: OH
