The announcement came at the start of IP Week - the round of meetings and seminars for which energy traders gather in London every February - and ends weeks of speculation over such a move.

Newsome even joked that Nymex's plans to move to London - which would put the exchange in direct competition with the International Petroleum Exchange - are "the worst kept secret" in the energy trading world.

However, further details of the plans were sketchy. There is so far no definite site for the