Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) today reached the highest physical delivery volume since September 2018, with more than 24 million barrels to be delivered in January 2024. Open Interest on November 2023 reached 24,053 contracts compared to 23,228 contracts during the expiry process in October 2018.  

A total of 20 billion barrels of Omani crude oil have traded on the exchange since inception in June 2007, while 3 billion barrels have been delivered via the DME’s physical delivery mechanism over the same period.  

Raid Al-Salami, Managing Director, DME, said: “These records underline the increased appetite for customers to hedge, trade and get their crude oil delivered through DME due to its regulated and transparent trading platform and its state-of-the-art delivery mechanism.”  

These milestones come after DME registered an increase in trading volumes and physical delivery in the first half of 2023, 15% and 18% consecutively, compared to the same period of 2022.  

“We are committed to fostering a collaborative partnership with crude oil market participants to develop a healthy energy derivatives market in the region through ongoing dialogue and a shared commitment to excellence. We seek to build lasting relationships that drive mutual success, promote market integrity, and advance the evolution of the price discovery mechanism we provide, to enable participants to hedge their exposure in the dynamic and volatile crude oil market,” he added. 

“Our consistent growth in volumes highlights the confidence of global players in the DME’s value proposition and the trust granted by major crude oil producers in the region, to price their crude exports to the East of Suez market.”