On Monday, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) said that its ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) launch and trading of the Murban futures contracts would likely commence late in the first quarter of 2021.
Previously last year, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that its flagship Murban crude would be traded on a new local exchange, IFAD.
ICE stated, “ICE Murban Futures will be a physically delivered contract with delivery at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a free on board (FOB) basis and will be complemented with a range of cash-settled derivatives which IFAD plan to launch for day one of trading.”
The new contract will form an alternative benchmark to the most commonly used Middle East standard, the Dubai/Oman benchmark operated by the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), and traded on CME’s electronic platform.
Originally, ICE planned to launch the new exchange in the first six months of 2020. However, the pending regulatory and clearance approvals amid current uncertain market conditions delayed the plan.
BP, Total, Inpex, Vitol, Shell, PetroChina, GS Caltex, JXTG, and PTT are among the firms agreeing to be partners in the exchange.
