DME energy contract trade hits 3m

March is another record trading month with a 5% increase. Dubai Dubai's energy futures exchange said Wednesday that it had traded three million DME Oman contracts, equivalent to three billion barrels of crude oil, since its launch in June 2007. The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) announced the news at the end of another record trading month, which saw the exchange trade 112,993 contracts, a five per cent increase over the number of contracts traded in February, which was also a record month. "To have traded three million contracts since our launch is a remarkable achievement. To have done so at such speed, only a little more than a year after we reached the two million barrels milestone, which in itself took four years to reach, shows the speed at which we are developing and the enduring confidence of the market in the DME," said Ahmad Sharaf, chairman. "We are extremely well placed to continue this growth trajectory… as we move forward," he said. As of close of trading last Friday, DME Oman had traded more than three million contracts since the exchange launched in 2007. The DME also celebrated a second consecutive month of records, while the average daily volume for March was 5,136 contracts. Average daily volume for the three months to March 31 was some 56 per cent ahead of the same period in 2011, illustrating the progress made by the exchange over the previous year and the powerful start to 2012 trading. "Given ongoing global economic uncertainty and price volatility, our customers are clearly finding real value in the strength of our contract's physical link to the market together with the resulting price transparency and superior risk management capability that it offers," said Thomas Leaver, chief executive of the DME. From: Gulfnews