NEW YORK, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. , today announced that the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) enjoyed a robust opening day, with more than 2,800 contracts traded, as of 4 PM New York time, on this groundbreaking exchange. The DME, the Middle East's first international energy futures and commodities exchange, was launched as a joint venture between NYMEX, Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, and the Oman Investment Fund (OIF).
The DME established the Middle East's first and only physically-settled energy futures contract. With more than 60 member companies registered to trade, the DME saw active trading in its worldwide benchmark Oman crude oil futures, WTI-Oman financial spread, and Brent-Oman financial spread contracts.
NYMEX Chairman Richard Schaeffer said, "We were proud to work with the DME to launch this historic worldwide benchmark. Our commitment to the international markets is long-standing, including the launch of the Dubai crude oil contract on NYMEX ClearPort(R) in 2002. The open interest of the NYMEX Dubai crude oil contract is nearly 28,000 contracts. DME customers know that the deliverability of the Oman crude oil futures contract provides true price convergence between the cash and physical markets."
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