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Derivaives exchange CME Group has announced that it will launch 17 new petroleum product swaps futures contracts, which include 1.5% fuel oil swaps for the Rotterdam market.

The 17 new petroleum product contracts will include 12 balance of month (BALMO) swap futures contracts on ClearPort®, and will begin on 26th October for a trade date of 27th October.

The BALMO swap futures contracts will be listed for two consecutive months, and the other contracts will be listed for 48 consecutive months. The first listed month for all contracts will be November 2008.

All of the contracts will be 1,000 metric tons in size, except for the Brent crude oil BALMO swap futures contract, which will be 1,000 barrels.

The new futures contracts and their commodity codes include: 1.5% fuel oil FOB Rotterdam swap (Z3); gasoil 0.1 CIF Med swap (Z4); gasoil 0.1 CIF Med vs. ICE gasoil swap (Z5); ULSD 10 ppm CIF Med swap (Z6); ULSD 10 ppm CIF Med vs ICE Gasoil swap (Z7); Brent crude oil BALMO swap (J9); ICE gasoil BALMO swap (U9); 1.5% fuel oil Rotterdam barges BALMO swap (J5); gasoil 0.1 cargoes CIF Northwest Europe BALMO swap (B7); gasoil 0.1 barges FOB Rotterdam BALMO swap (B8); and gasoil 0.1 cargoes CIF Med BALMO swap (X6).

CME Group claims to offer the widest range of benchmark products available across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, and alternative investment products such as weather and real estate. CME Group is also listed on NASDAQ under the symbol "CME."