Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) on Wednesday reported a new open interest record of 40,505 lots for its flagship Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract following January trading 2017 activity.
The latest figure, which equals 40.5 million barrels of Omani crude oil, surpasses the previous open interest record of 31,492 lots set on 27 January, 2016, DME said in a statement published on its official website.
DME’s head of marketing Mayssam Hamadeh noted that “the record is a further milestone for the Exchange as it confirms the market’s confidence in the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract,” according to the statement.
“Open interest in DME Oman has been increasing steadily,” he said, adding that the new record highlights that “appetite among major energy market players” to trade on DME continues to be strong in the face of fluctuating crude oil prices.”
In addition to DME’s open interest record, their trading volumes showed steady growth, further boosting their reputation “as the most credible source of pricing for oil trade flows in the region,” the statement added.
The news of the open interest record follows the exchange’s announcement of a 20% year-on-year increase in physical delivery volumes in 2016.
DME reported delivering a total of 260,688,000 barrels last year, a historical high in physical delivery.
