The Dubai Mercantile Exchange said on Thursday six new swaps and options contracts linked to its benchmark Oman crude OQc1 would be listed on Dec. 5. The exchange launched the Oman contract in 2007, aiming for it to become the marker for the 12 million barrels per day of crude that move from the Middle East to Asia.
It said the new contracts would be launched by CME Group Inc., the world’s biggest futures exchange operator and a shareholder in DME.
“The contracts, which will be listed for trading on Sunday, December 5, 2010 for trade date Monday, December 6, 2010, are subject to the rules and regulations of NYMEX and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc,” DME said in a statement.
Trading of futures on the DME has increased since the contract was introduced in 2007 but it is still only a third of the 10,000 contracts per day the exchange has pegged as the level for commercial success.
They also remain below the level at which producers such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and Iraq would switch from pricing their crude against the average of Dubai and Oman spot quotations by McGraw Hill’s Platts.
“These new contracts will…also further consolidate the DME Oman contract as the third global crude oil pricing benchmark, alongside WTI and Brent,” said Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the DME said.
