London's International Petroleum Exchange plans to extend electronic trade for its flagship Brent crude contract from 1930-2030 local time, the exchange said in a circular to members yesterday.

It will run a pre-open session after the close of pit trading from 1930-1940 and a post-settlement session from 1940-2030.

The new hours will be introduced May 13 in the absence of any written objections, the circular said.

Brent futures floor trading runs from 1000-1930 with electronic trade available from 0800. On days when Brent closes early the extra hour will be traded straight after the close.

The new hours do not apply to gas oil futures, which close at 1730 London time. Price movements in the extra hour of trade will not be included in the Brent weighted average (BWAVE) calculation. Settlement prices will still be established at the close of floor trading, the exchange said.

The IPE is slowly moving toward an all-electronic platform that could potentially operate around the clock.

"It looks like this is the exchange trying to get traders more used to the idea of longer electronic trade," said one dealer. The NYMEX, IPE's U.S. rival, has an out-of-hours electronic platform that operates outside of floor trade.

The IPE is expected to replace its current electronic trading facility later this year with a system developed by ICE. Eventually this system is expected to replace floor trading, but there is no timetable for this yet.