Chief Appointed for Mercantile Exchange

The New York Mercantile Exchange said Monday that it has appointed J. Robert Collins as president, filling a post that had been vacant for a year.

Collins, 35, was the senior vice president of natural gas trading at El Paso Merchant Energy, a division of El Paso Corp. (EPG)

Former president R. Patrick Thompson died of a heart attack July 19, 2000.

The exchange over the last year has transformed itself into a for-profit corporation, elected a new chairman and engaged its London rival, the International Petroleum Exchange, in a head-on battle for crude oil futures trading.

Before joining El Paso in 1997, Collins was a natural gas and crude oil options market maker for Pioneer Futures Inc. The company was founded by Vincent Viola, who was elected Nymex