More than 40 million barrels of crude and refined oil derivatives have traded online on the IntercontinentalExchange(ICE) since its launch of energy trading two weeks ago, an ICE spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The Internet platform, sited at www.intercontinentalexchange.com, has been trading in precious metals since August and began live trading of energy products on October 12. By the close of trade on Wednesday, ICE had traded over 40 million barrels of crude and refined derivatives, 240 million mmBTUs (million British Thermal Units) of natural gas and natural gas derivatives and 6 million megawatt hours of power, a spokeswoman said. There were now over 25 companies actively trading on ICE, with more waiting to get connected. Oil swaps traded on ICE include crude oil, fuel oil, gas oil/heating oil, jet fuel, gasoline and naphtha. Natural gas and power products include physically-delivered gas at fixed and indexed prices, natural gas basis and swing swaps and firm power. Partners in the Atlanta-based exchange include BP Amoco Plc, Royal/Dutch Shell, TotalFina, Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Deutsche Bank, American Electric Power, Utilicorp's Aquila Energy, Duke Energy, El Paso Energy, Reliant Energy and Southern Company Energy Marketing. There are currently at least 16 other energy trading Web sites on the Internet.