The launch of the first oil futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in 1978 marked the start of energy trading. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, NYMEX and the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) successfully introduced futures contracts for oil and gas. These thriving futures exchanges demonstrated strong financial resilience, surviving notable energy trading scandals, including those involving Enron. Today, government-regulated futures exchanges and off-exchange energy derivatives markets, which can clear on these exchanges, are supported by oil companies and financial institutions to ensure essential trading liquidity.

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