DME approves 37 members for Oman crude trading

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange has so far approved 37 members ahead of the launch next month of its Oman oil futures contract, it said on Monday.

"We have an incredibly impressive membership list comprised of 37 companies and there are many, many more behind this list that are currently going through the approval and application process," DME Chief Executive Gary King told an energy conference in Dubai.

He did not name the latest firms to be approved.

The DME is no longer taking applications for 20 market maker positions due to oversubscription. It is offering up to 50 seats for floor members and 50 for off-floor members.

Trading at the DME will not be limited to members, but all those who want to trade will have to hold an account with a clearing member.

King said the exchange was on target to launch on May 1 and was in the final stages of getting a licence. The DME is awaiting regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for the first crude oil contract to be backed by a Middle East producer.

Non-OPEC producer Oman has pledged to drop its policy of pricing its crude retroactively and use the new crude futures contract instead.

Oman is one of the smaller oil producers in the region with output of just over 700,000 barrels per day. But its crude makes up half of the benchmark used to price 12 million bpd of Middle East exports sailing to Asian refiners.

Some traders hope that the contract will provide a more liquid, transparent benchmark for Middle East oil exports.

The DME is a joint venture between Oman, Dubai and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

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