The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) is one of the key institutions for Middle East crude pricing. Since 2007 the exchange has hosted the DME Oman futures contract, which was the first physical crude contract for East of Suez markets. But change is coming, with Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc rolling out its Murban futures contract in March 2021.
Since its launch in 2007, DME Oman has gradually gained traction, and now Saudi Arabia and Kuwait use the benchmark to price their Asia-bound crude exports. A spokesperson for the exchange tells MEES that “DME plays a crucial role in price discovery for medium sour crude in the Middle East due to its utilization by key NOC producers for pricing crude oil to Asian markets.” They add that before the launch of DME Oman in 2007 “market transparency was opaque, and prices only available via brokers or subscription services.” (CONTINUED - 1961 WORDS)
