About the ExchangeChemconnect Announces New Risk Management Opportunities for NGL Industry in Cooperation with OPIS and The Clearing Corporation
Addition of five new cleared propane and ethane products broadens market coverage and matches underlying industry standard practices
HOUSTON, TX (September 20, 2006) - ChemConnect Inc., the leading electronic exchange for trading midstream energy, feedstocks, chemicals and related products, announced today that it will list five new NGL products and new locations for financially cleared trading on the ChemConnect over-the-counter (OTC) platform. These new propane and ethane contracts will be cleared through the company's partnership with The Clearing Corporation. Additionally, in cooperation with Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), ChemConnect will be offering its customers the ability to execute cleared OPIS swaps.
Effective immediately, ChemConnect will offer the following new financially cleared OTC contracts:
- Mt. Belvieu Propane SWAP — OPIS Settlement Index
- Mt. Belvieu Ethane SWAP — OPIS Settlement Index
- Conway Propane Forward
- Conway Propane SWAP — ChemConnect Settlement Index
- Conway Propane SWAP — OPIS Settlement Index
"With new cleared products and new locations in the Midwestern United States, we're expanding beyond our current Gulf Coast slate of NGL products," said ChemConnect Vice President of Commodity Trading, Eric Paulsen. "Through our joint effort with The Clearing Corporation, we are providing the market with a risk management tool that closely matches actual underlying contract exposure to broadly recognized and utilized OPIS price references, while helping companies to mitigate and optimize their credit risk."
"The ChemConnect Exchange is globally known as the execution platform for the NGL market," said Diane Miller, OPIS Executive Editor. "The NGL industry will certainly benefit from this capability to better manage risk using the industry standard benchmarks published by OPIS and clearing services available through the unique relationship between ChemConnect and The Clearing Corporation."
ChemConnect and The Clearing Corporation continue to actively pursue the development of a broader range of financially cleared OTC products to meet the unique risk management and investment needs of a wider array of companies interested in the energy and chemical markets.
"The Clearing Corporation is pleased to support ChemConnect as they launch these new contracts. Their broader product offering emphasizes the growing interest in various OTC market segments where participants can achieve optimal risk mitigation," said Rich Jaycobs CEO of The Clearing Corporation.
For more information about these and other financially cleared trading opportunities, visit www.chemconnect.com
About ChemConnect
ChemConnect is a leader in helping customers optimize their purchasing and sales processes for midstream energy, chemicals, plastics and related products through a unique combination of an active liquidity pool, seamless transaction execution, market information and industry expertise. Additional information about ChemConnect can be found at www.chemconnect.com
About Oil Price Information System
Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) is one of the most widely accepted fuel price benchmarks for supply contracts and competitive positioning. It's used as a benchmark price by the world to buy and sell U.S. gasoline, diesel, ethanol, biodiesel, LP-gas, jet fuel, crude, propane, feedstocks, resid, and kerosene. Through its subsidiary, Axxis Software, it also provides leading-edge software solutions for petroleum marketers looking to automate price collection, data storage and repricing of dealer and commercial accounts.
About The Clearing Corporation
The Clearing Corporation is a stockholder-owned, Delaware corporation now in its 81st year of business. The Clearing Corporation serves numerous clients in a variety of markets and is the only active independent derivatives clearinghouse in the world. Additional information on The Clearing Corporation is available at www.clearingcorp.com.
Note to Editors: ChemConnect is a registered trademark of ChemConnect, Inc. All other product, trademark, company or service names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.