Oman May Abandon Retroactive Pricing For DME.Oman is ready to abandon its retroactive crude price mechanism and use the new Dubai Mercantile Exchange Located within the Dubai International Financial Centre, the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) is set to become the first energy futures exchange in the Middle East. The aim of the DME is to provide price transparency and market liquidity for petroleum products in the region. (DME (Distributed Management Environment) A network monitoring and control protocol defined by the Open Software Foundation (now The Open Group). DME was not widely used. DME - Distributed Management Environment ) crude futures contract instead. Oman's Oil and Gas Minister Muhammad bin Hamad al-Rumhy on Nov. 6 said an agreement on the change could be reached within weeks, if certain guarantees were worked out. Rumhy's comments were the first public indication of the non-OPEC producer's willingness to set prices from the DME Oman contract, due for launch before end-2006. The switch, which traders say is necessary for the contract to thrive, would be a big boost for the market and may change the way Middle East crude oil is priced. Oman may take a stake in the DME, Rumhy said, adding: "When the market is working, we'll use it I hope". The DME is a JV between the Dubai government and NYMEX See New York Mercantile Exchange. NYMEX See New York Mercantile Exchange (NYM). - the world's largest energy market which will provide the Dubai venture with clearing and settlement services. It aims to provide Asian sour crude to consumers such as refiners and offer alternatives to benchmarks for WTI WTI West Texas Intermediate WTI Western Transportation Institute (Montana State University) WTI World Tribunal on Iraq WTI With The Idea (used in chess to point to the idea behind a specific move) and Brent, both sweet crude oil Sweet crude oil is a type of petroleum. Petroleum is considered "sweet" if it contains less than 0.5% sulfur[1], compared to a higher level of sulfur in sour crude oil. Sweet crude oil contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. varieties. The International Mercantile Exchange (IMEX IMEX Industrial Materials Exchange IMEX Import and Export IMEX Worldwide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events IMEX International Monetary Exchange, Inc. IMEX Imagery Exploitation (US DoD) ) in Qatar is set to challenge the DME as the largest international energy exchange in the region when it launches next spring. IMEX will be the centrepiece of the $2.6 bn Energy City Qatar, a planned regional hub for upstream and downstream segments of the petroleum industry. Bob Moore, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Energy City, on Nov. 7 told a press conference: "This [IMEX] will be the first purpose-built energy hub in the region". IMEX promoters hope to fill critical gaps in the Middle East energy industry, lacking in the value-added services found in other energy hubs worldwide. The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX DGCX Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange ) also trades in energy products (see omt19DubaiNov6-06). Fayez Husseini, vice-president of Accelerator Technology Holdings, which is handling the business strategy for the IMEX project, said the virtual exchange should become operational by the second quarter of 2007, before much of the physical infrastructure is completed. The actual trading floor will be a "showcase" and will be completed around 2009 when the first buildings come online. The final deadline for all 92 residential and commercial buildings holding 20,000 workers over one sq km is the middle of 2012. Gulf Finance House in Bahrain is the lead investor joined by local, regional and international investors who participated via private placement. |
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