The IntercontinentalExchange’s bombshell bid for the Chicago Board of Trade could create a new powerhouse that poses a serious threat to New York’s dominant position in energy and metals trading.

Yesterday, ICE unveiled a shocking $10 billion bid for the CBOT – a move that would block an existing deal by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The all-stock bid from the electronic ICE is valued at roughly $1 billion more than the CME’s offer and will face less regulatory hurdles, analysts said.

CBOT members are voting on their deal with the CME on April 4.

If it wins the bidding war, ICE plans to move its operations to CBOT’s landmark building in downtown Chicago. ICE chief Jeff Sprecher told investors yesterday that he recently purchased a house in Chicago and is in the middle of building a vast data center in the Windy City.

“We recognize that for nearly 160 years the CBOT has been a major Chicago institution,” Sprecher said yesterday. “We wish to preserve and enhance this market position, and the legacy.”

ICE has been locked in a fierce battle for market share with the downtown New York Mercantile Exchange, the world’s No. 1 energy market, for trading in crude oil and natural gas.

A merger with the 160-year-old CBOT would create an exchange unrivaled in its reach, trading oil, natural gas, electricity, cocoa, coffee and financial futures based on treasuries, stocks and interest rates.

CBOT recently launched ethanol trading and has made inroads trading silver and gold, which is currently dominated by the Nymex.

CME, which has a deal with the Nymex for metals trading, has indicated that it is likely to shut down CBOT’s metals trading business after the merger.

“A merger with the ICE would give the CBOT metals business another lease on life,” said veteran futures broker John Lothian.

Nymex shares rose nearly 5 percent to $133.42 on speculation that it could become the next target if ICE successfully breaks up the CME’s existing deal.