DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract

Launched by the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) on 1 June 2007, the DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (OQD) is the Asian crude oil pricing benchmark. The contract is traded on the CME Group’s electronic platform CME Globex, and cleared through CME Clearport.^[1]

Contract specifications

Trading unit	1,000 barrels (160 m3).
Price quotation	U.S. dollars and cents per barrel.
Trading symbol	OQD
Trading hours	Electronic trading is open from 18:00 U.S. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and closes at 17:15 EST the next day, Sunday to Friday. Singapore is 13 hours ahead of EST and Dubai is 9 hours ahead. The time difference is reduced by one hour when Daylight Saving Time is in effect. Neither Dubai nor Singapore observes Daylight Saving Time.
Trading months	The current year and the next five years will be listed. A new calendar year will be added following the termination of trading in the December contract of the current year.
Minimum price fluctuation	$0.01 (1) per barrel ($10.00 per contract).
Maximum daily price fluctuation	None.
Daily settlement	A daily OSP settlement price will be published as at 16:30 (Singapore) 03:30 or 04:30 EST. This price represents the weighted average price of trades in the nearby Contract Month between 16:25 and 16:30 (Singapore). The DME will also publish an end of trading day settlement price for all listed Contract Months, determined as at 14:30 EST, which coincides with the end of the trading day for NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil. This latter settlement price is used by the Clearing House to calculate daily variation margin on all open DME Contracts.
Final settlement price	The Final Settlement Price for a Contract Month shall be the OSP settlement price on the last Trading Day of the Contract Month. This price represents the weighted average price of trades in the nearby Contract Month between 16:15 and 16:30 (Singapore). The Final Settlement Price will be used for purposes of margins for delivery of the Oil.
Last Trading Day	Trading in the nearby Contract Month shall cease on the last Trading Day of the second month preceding the Delivery Month.
Settlement Type	Physical.
Delivery	F.O.B at the Loading Port, consistent with current terminal operations. Complete delivery rules and provisions are detailed in Chapter 10 of the rulebook.
Governing law	English Law.

Statistics

	2007*	2008	2009	2010
Average daily volume	1,357,000 bbl (215,700 m3)	1,274,000 bbl (202,500 m3)	2,156,000 bbl (342,800 m3)	2,944,000 bbl (468,100 m3)
Total trade volume	200,892,000 bbl (31,939,300 m3)	322,294,000 bbl (51,240,700 m3)	551,866,000 bbl (87,739,700 m3)	744,727,000 bbl (118,402,100 m3)
Total physical deliveries	17,203,000 bbl (2,735,100 m3)	95,369,000 bbl (15,162,500 m3)	104,380,000 bbl (16,595,000 m3)	144,892,000 bbl (23,036,000 m3)

*: the exchanged opened on 1 June 2007.

DME Oman linked contracts

On 5 December 2010, NYMEX launched six DME Oman-linked contracts, traded bilaterally and cleared through CME Clearport. These new DME Oman-linked contracts complement the OQD Futures contract and give market participants regulated and transparent Over-The-Counter (OTC) contracts. The contracts are:

• DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures (DOO)
• DME Oman Crude Oil BALMO Swap Futures (DOB)
• ICE Brent vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures (DBO)
• DME Oman Crude Oil Average Price Option (DOA)
• Singapore MOGAS 92 Unleaded (Platts) vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures (DNB)
• Singapore Gasoil (Platts) vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Future (DZB)

The two main contracts which traded immediately were the DOO and the DOB with over 1.7 million barrels (270,000 m³) traded in the first week of their launch.

See also

• West Texas Intermediate
• Dubai Mercantile Exchange
• CME Group
• Chicago Mercantile Exchange
• NYMEX
• Petroleum Development of Oman
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission
• Dubai Financial Services Authority
• List of futures exchanges
• List of traded commodities
• Energy law