"ICE is well positioned to compete on a number of fronts. Anticipating increased competition, ICE Futures introduced its successful ICE WTI Crude futures contract in February of this year, achieving record open interest and daily trading volume this week. More importantly, the liquidity in ICE's diverse range of energy contracts in both futures and over-the-counter (OTC) markets is unparalleled. ICE's innovative and robust trading platform was designed for energy trading and risk management. Deployed on the desktops of thousands of energy market participants around the world, the ICE platform is an integral tool for energy market participants.

"We fully intend to retain our leadership role in the growing electronic energy marketplace," said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, ICE Chairman and CEO. "It's early in the transition of energy commodities to electronic trading, and we believe we will continue to lead in the development of innovative products and services to serve our marketplace."