Abu Dhabi launches new oil futures as it targets Asian refiners

Abu Dhabi launches new oil futures as it targets Asian refiners

Abu Dhabi began trading futures contracts for its most important oil grade Murban on Monday as the emirate seeks to create a rival regional benchmarkas part of a big shake-up in the way its crude is traded. 

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company began trading Murban futures on a new local exchange, the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi. It will compete with Dubai, operated by S&P Global Platts, and the Oman crude futures on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

The contract was priced at $64.03 a barrel as of midday in London with 6,293 lots traded, ICE said on Twitter. Each lot is equivalent to 1,000 barrels.

Adnoc said on Monday that the introduction of the Murban futures contract was the latest step in the company's "transformation into a more market and customer-centric organisation“, giving buyers better price transparency, hedging flexibility and risk management abilities. 

By handing over pricing controls to traders and other investors, Abu Dhabi seeks to bolster its position in the international oil market, ultimately making Murban more attractive to Asian refiners that will drive crude demand in the coming years. 

Middle Eastern oil producers tend to base their export prices on benchmarks outside of the region, but for decades Adnoc has not, using