ABU DHABI- The head of Intercontinental Exchange Inc said it wants to use the new Murban crude oil futures contract it will launch next year in the United Arab Emirates to expand to other crude grades.

"Over time, ICE futures Abu Dhabi - the goal is to start with Murban crude but to expand in a natural way," CEO Jeffrey Sprecher told an energy conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

"We will use Murban as a base to get deeper into Asia, I suspect," he said.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Ron Bousso; writing by Lisa Barrington; editing by Jason Neely) ((lisa.barrington@thomsonreuters.com;))