IMAREX NOS December statistics – brings 2006 to new trading records

Trading statistics summary - December 2006:

1 lot = 1 000 metric tons for tankers and bunker fuel oil. 1 lot = 1 000 metric tons for C4 and C7 contracts. For P2A, P3A, SM5TC, PM4TC and CS4TC, 1 lot= 1 day of time charter. Option volumes are measured according to the underlying product/route.

Activity split - December 2006:

CEO's view point:

“December volumes added up to an overall very strong 4th quarter of trading for Imarex, in fact it was the second best quarter we have ever experienced ” says Tom Even Mortensen, IMAREX NOS’ CEO. He continues: “It’s especially very positive to see how freight options and bunkers are keeping up the stronger momentum. This was the year we handled USD 6.6 billion worth of commodity derivatives – that is a new high for us, and the outlook for 2007 remains very good”.

December ends new record year for IMAREX

During December 2006, a total of 722 transactions with a notional trade value of USD 439 million were traded at IMAREX and cleared at NOS. This is the highest value and the largest number of trades done during the last month of a year since IMAREX was founded in 2000.

The volumes make 2006 the busiest year to date for IMAREX and NOS with close to 10 000 transactions concluded and 262 500 lots traded worth over USD 6.5 billion.

IMAREX earns revenue from broking and clearing of derivative contracts in four commodity derivatives markets. These are tanker freight futures, dry bulk freight futures, bunker fuel oil swaps and freight options contacts for both the tankers and dry bulk sectors. A total of 15 242 contracts (lots) were traded via IMAREX NOS during December, with tanker freight and bunker fuel oil showing the largest increases.

During December, new tanker flat rates for calculating the value of tanker freight were published by the WorldScale Association. The increases this year were larger than previous years mainly due to the high price of IFO380 bunker fuel between September 2005 and September 2006.

The new flat rates which came into effect 2 January materially changed the underlying value of many contracts expiring during 2007.

Open Interest, which is a way to measure the open balance at a clearing house, came down by around 8 % from all time highs at the end of November to around 65 000 lots.

Open Interest is defined as the total number of contracts, long or short in a delivery month or market, that has been entered into and not yet liquidated by an offsetting transaction or fulfilled by delivery.

Tanker derivatives:

A total of 597 trades (739 trades in November) were traded by members and OTC clients, up 123 % on the 268 trades concluded in the same period last year.

A total of 9 862 lots in tanker futures (9.9 million tons) were traded via IMAREX, up 63 % compared to the 5 435 lots traded in the same period last year. The notional value of tanker transactions at IMAREX was USD 150 million, up 33 % from USD 113 million in the same period last year.

Dry bulk derivatives:

Combined dry bulk volumes cleared at NOS and traded at IMAREX was 1 701 lots (where 1 lot is 1 day of time charter or 1 000 metric tons of freight). The notional value of contracts traded was USD 53 million.

A total of 46 dry bulk derivatives transactions in December, compared to 45 in the same period last year.

Bunker fuel oil derivatives:

The total number of fuel oil derivative transactions in December was 47, up 104 % on the same period last year. Volumes continued to grow, and reached 760 000 tons, up 192 % on December 2005. The total notional value of bunker fuel oil contracts traded at IMAREX and NOS in December rose 206 % to USD 174 million, up from USD 57 million in the same month last year.

Freight options:

Freight options, which give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific underlying freight price on or by a specific future date, continue to grow in importance. IMAREX is the only market place in the world where cleared freight options are traded, and NOS is the only clearing house which clears freight options.

In December, a total of 32 IMAREX freight options accounted for 2 920 lots (4 101 in November) with a notional trade value of USD 61 million were traded (USD 59 million in November).

New trading and clearing members:

IMAREX NOS were pleased to welcome two new members in December:

• Vitol, Inc.
• ConocoPhillips International, Inc.

The total number of trading and clearing members at IMAREX and NOS is 153.

You can read the full repprt here:

• IMAREX NOS December statistics

  Imarex_Stats_DEC_2006_MB.pdf 146.85 kB

For more information, please contact:

• Tom Even Mortensen, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +47 2389 4222
• Arild Jæger, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +47 2389 4211

(*) Please note that the trade statistics for November 2006 have been corrected.