The New York Mercantile Exchange has detailed its thresholds for moving from open outcry to electronic trading although the commodity exchange’s pending merger agreement with CME Group, the derivatives market, requires the trading floor to be kept open until least 2012.

In a letter to members filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Nymex said Class A members will receive payments for a shift to electronic trading “following the end of two consecutive fiscal quarters in which, during each quarter, the average quarterly electronic trading volume has equalled or exceeded 90% of the contract volume in such product.”