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Dubai to set crude oil selling price based on DME Oman contract

  • United Arab Emirates: Tuesday, June 23 - 2009 at 11:59
  • PRESS RELEASE

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange confirmed today that the Dubai Department of Petroleum Affairs will set the official monthly selling price (OSP) for the Emirate's crude oil based on a differential to the settlement price of the DME's Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract.

Dubai has traditionally acted as the benchmark crude oil for Middle East producers, who price cargoes at a differential to published estimates of Dubai/Oman prices, typically set retroactively for the previous month. In moving to futures pricing, the OSP for month "M" will now be set in advance, with the differential set in M-3, and the final OSP calculated at the end of M-2. (See "Notes to Editors" for clarification of this process).

Abdulla Abdul Karim, Director of the Department of Petroleum Affairs stated:

"Dubai has priced its oil in relation to the DME from the launch of the Exchange in June 2007. Now, by announcing a forward price based on the DME Oman contract, we will signal to the markets the price of Dubai crude in relation to Oman, further strengthening the commitment to price transparency and fair value for Middle East Crude oil. The DME Oman contract continues to gain global acceptance as a fair and robust price discovery mechanism for crude oil destined for East of Suez markets."


Welcoming the decision, Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the DME said, "This announcement, coming so quickly after the DME's second anniversary of successful trading, demonstrates the enduring strength of the partnerships that the DME enjoys with its core shareholders in the Dubai and Omani governments. The transition also reinforces the ever-growing acceptance of the DME's Oman contract as the third global crude oil benchmark, trading on the CME Globex trading platform of our other core shareholder, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange."

Tom Leaver, Chief Executive Officer of the DME, added, "With this announcement, the DME now closes the gap for full price discovery of the two historic and accepted benchmark crudes in the Middle East. Publishing an OSP for Dubai is a strong signal to other GCC producers to join this initiative and back true and fair value for their oil exports by adopting DME settlements in their term contract formulae. This move ensures that customers know they are getting fair value and provides them with the ability to manage their exposure to price fluctuations in the major component of their feedstock costs using the benchmark futures contract."
Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME).
Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME).
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Notes and Media Contacts »

About the Dubai Mercantile Exchange
The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) is the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, providing a financially secure, well-regulated and transparent trading environment. Majority owned by core shareholders the CME Group, Tatweer (a member of Dubai Holding), and the Oman Investment Fund (OIF), the DME also released an equity stake of up to 20% in August 2008 to a strategic investor group including leading global financial institutions and energy trading firms such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Vitol, Shell, Concord and Casa Energy.

The Exchange has developed and trades the DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract, addressing the growing market need for price discovery of sour crude oil destined for East of Suez markets, while simultaneously bridging the time-zone gap between Europe and Asia. Launched in June 2007, the contract hit record volumes of 6,484 contracts on January 13th 2009.

The DME is a fully electronic exchange, and its contracts are listed on the CME Globex platform, the world's leading electronic trading platform, providing access to the broadest array of futures and options products available on any exchange. The DME is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), a world class, independent regulator, and all trades executed on the Exchange are cleared through, and guaranteed by, NYMEX's AA+ rated clearinghouse which is licensed as a Recognized Body by the DFSA.

For further information, please contact:

DME: Aimee Peters +971 50 453 2767

Financial Dynamics:
GCC: John Hobday +971 50 4648706
Manash Bhuyan +971 4 332 8832
London: Seán Galvin +44 (0) 207 269 7133
New York: Kim Sampson +1 212 850 5685
Asia: Laurel Teo +65 6224 2987

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