Dubai offers full support to financial markets to post higher growth

Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance affirmed that the Dubai government provided all support needed for the growth of the financial markets operating in the Emirate through developing legislatives framework and infrastructure to allow exchanges to consolidate their presence regionally and globally.

Sheikh Maktoum added that Dubai Mercantile Exchange was able to gain the confidence of major oil producers and consolidate its position as the most reliable source of oil pricing in the region.

During the meeting, he praised the achievements of Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) during the last stage, marking that the successful Exchange strategy contributed in the growth of trading volume and enhanced its ability to benefit from the steady growth of crude oil trading in the Middle East and Asia regions.

Sheikh Maktoum reviewed with the board of directors of DME, the latest developments in the sector, on the regional and international levels, especially during the rapid changes experienced by the energy market, and the great growth opportunities that it holds.

Also, he reviewed the qualitative achievements of DME during the last period, as the number of companies using the exchange platform for physical delivery reached 60 companies, and the number of barrels of oil delivered through the DME mechanism reached 2.5 billion barrels. An equivalent of 17 billion barrels was traded, while the number of barrels of oil that are priced according to the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract on a daily basis is 5.2 million barrels.

DME lists the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) as its flagship contract, providing the most fair and transparent crude oil benchmark for the region. DME Oman is the explicit and sole benchmark for about 170 million barrels of crude oil per month since 2018, after it was limited to pricing about 30 million barrels per month.

The meeting was attended by Ahmad Sharaf, chairman and Dubai Holding independent rep; Nasser Al Jashmi, secretary-general, Ministry of Finance; Abdullah Al Harthy, undersecretary, Ministry of Finance; Derek Sammann, senior managing director, global head of commodities, options and international markets and Raid Al Salami, managing director, DME.

DME Oman is pricing more than 170 million barrels of crude oil per month since 2018 compared to around 30 million barrel per month prior to Saudi, Kuwait and Bahrain switch. The contract is regarded as the most reliable crude oil futures price benchmark, due to the quality of Oman Blend, which represents the majority of the GCC crude oil grades.

DME is the first operator of international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East. The company focuses on bringing fair and transparent price discovery and efficient risk management regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a recognised body by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) thus, addresses the growing market need for price discovery of sour crude oil.

DME is a joint venture between Dubai Holding, Oman Investment Authority and CME Group. In addition to its core shareholders, global financial institutions and energy trading firms such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Shell, and Vitol have taken equity stakes in DME, providing the exchange with a resounding vote of confidence by major players in global energy markets.

DME is located within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a financial free zone designed to promote financial services within the UAE. DME is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and all trades executed on DME are cleared through and guaranteed by CME Clearing. CME is regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a Recognised Body by the DFSA.

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