LONDON, March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IntercontinentalExchange, a leading operator of global regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced a new daily volume record for the ICE U.K. National Balancing Point (NBP) Natural Gas futures contract. On 14 March, 56,380 U.K. NBP Natural Gas futures contracts traded on ICE Futures Europe, surpassing the previous record of 49,680 contracts traded on 21 July 2010.

The ICE U.K. NBP Natural Gas futures contract is the leading benchmark for U.K. natural gas, with year-to-date trading volume of 1.1 million contracts through 14 March, up 57% from the same period in 2010. The ICE U.K. NBP Natural Gas contract trades alongside the Dutch TTF Natural Gas futures contract and Germany's NetConnect Germany (NCG) and GASPOOL futures contracts, bringing together Europe's three largest traded gas markets on a single trading and clearing platform.