Intercontinental Exchange says its North American Financial Natural Gas markets hit record open interest of 13.4 million contracts on 1 July 2026, up 9% year-on-year. Regional hub contracts led the growth, and ICE’s Henry Hub and global power futures also set records.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) said on Tuesday that its North American Financial Natural Gas futures and options markets reached record open interest of 13.4 million contracts on 1 July 2026, up 9% year-on-year. These contracts price the differential between each regional hub and the U.S. natural gas benchmark Henry Hub.
Regional hubs drive the record
Growth concentrated in basis futures tied to specific delivery points. NGPL TexOk basis futures rose 51% this year, the sharpest move among the hubs ICE highlighted. Houston Ship Channel basis futures climbed 16%. Waha basis futures rose 15%, and Alberta NIT basis futures gained 13%.
Physical activity followed the same path. Cleared physical Canadian natural gas volumes rose 9% year-on-year at ICE NGX, which clears physical gas delivered at hubs across North America.
A more complex market
According to Brian Lewis, VP of North American Natural Gas and Power at ICE, gas markets have entered a “structurally more complex era”, with the U.S. now the world’s largest LNG exporter while infrastructure investments, surging power demand and a strengthening El Niño pull supply and demand in different directions across the country.
New pipeline capacity is beginning to reshape the basis relationships that traders have worked with for years, Lewis added, with ICE’s markets spanning more than 70 hubs.
Henry Hub and power set records too
ICE’s Henry Hub futures offer deep liquidity for managing long-term exposure to the U.S. benchmark, with open interest up 8% year-on-year at 25.7 million contracts. ICE’s global power futures markets also hit record open interest of 3.6 million contracts on 1 July, up 7% year-on-year.
Source: LeapRate
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