The International Petroleum Exchange's board has decided to move ahead with plans to introduce electronic trading despite a strike by 100 traders who regard the move as a threat to their livelihoods.

However, the board of the exchange has given traders a guarantee that it will retain a minimum amount of open outcry trading in Brent crude and gas oil futures for a number of years. This is to offset the chance of liquidity drying up, which traders warned would occur should they no longer be allowed to trade on the floor of the exchange.