LONDON, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today announced the introduction of two cash-settled futures contracts based on the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) and cleared by ICE Clear Europe.

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The new futures contracts are the ICE Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) Future, which is an outright contract, and the ICE Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI) Differential Future, which is the differential between the ASCI and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price. The futures contracts will be listed by ICE Futures Europe and will be available on the trade date of Monday, December 7, pending regulatory approval. ICE previously announced the November 13 availability of two ASCI-based cleared OTC contracts.

David Peniket, President and COO of ICE Futures Europe, said: "We're pleased to add the ICE Argus Sour Crude Index products to ICE's offering of futures and OTC cleared crude and refined oil benchmarks. We believe the availability of a U.S. Gulf Coast benchmark ASCI, together with our ICE WTI and Brent crude contracts, enhances the ability of our customers to effectively manage price risk in the global energy markets."

Argus Media launched its ASCI sour crude index in May to represent the daily value of U.S. Gulf Coast medium sour crude, based on physical spot market transactions. The daily ASCI price is the volume-weighted average of all transactions for three grades of Gulf Coast crude combined: Mars, Poseidon and Southern Green Canyon.

For more information, please see www.theice.com/oil or www.argusmedia.com

Editor's Note

"Argus", "Argus Sour Crude Index" and "ASCI" are trade marks of Argus Media Limited and are used under license. All intellectual property rights in the Argus indices referred to herein belong to Argus Media. Argus Media accepts no liability to third parties arising from or in connection with any use of the Argus indices.

About IntercontinentalExchange

IntercontinentalExchange(®) (NYSE: ICE) operates leading regulated exchanges, trading platforms and clearing houses serving the global markets for agricultural, credit, currency, emissions, energy and equity index markets. ICE Futures Europe(®) hosts trade in half of the world's crude and refined oil futures. ICE Futures U.S.(®) and ICE Futures Canada(®) list agricultural, currency and Russell Index markets. ICE(®) offers trade execution and processing for the credit derivatives markets through Creditex(®) and ICE Link(TM), respectively, and CDS clearing through ICE Trust(TM). A component of the Russell 1000(®) and S&P 500 indexes, ICE serves customers in more than 50 countries and is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in New York, London, Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Houston and Singapore. www.theice.com

The following are trademarks of IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies: IntercontinentalExchange, IntercontinentalExchange & Design, ICE, ICE and block design, ICE Futures Canada, ICE Futures Europe, ICE Futures U.S., ICE Trust, ICE Clear Europe, ICE Clear U.S., ICE Clear Canada, The Clearing Corporation, U.S. Dollar Index, ICE Link and Creditex. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For more information regarding registered trademarks owned by IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. and/or its affiliated companies, see https://www.theice.com/terms.jhtml

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, as filed with the SEC on February 11, 2009.

SOURCE IntercontinentalExchange