The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME), the largest physically-delivered crude oil futures contract, said it has registered a 35 per cent year-on-year increase in 2010 in trading volumes and record levels of open interest.

The average daily volumes (ADV) for the DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) reached 2,898 contracts traded (equivalent to 2.9 million barrels of oil per day), with a high of more than 3,000 ADV during the fourth quarter, the DME said in its annual review for 2010.

The DME also set a new record for physical delivery in September 2010, with 15.1 million barrels delivered through the exchange during the month, the review stated.

The DME said it provides investors and traders with a transparent mechanism to identify and track the link between supply, demand and price for physical barrels.

The year’s record performance reflects strong continued progress for the DME and reinforces the DME Oman contract’s position as the most efficient price discovery and risk management tool for the East of Suez crude oil markets, the exchange said.

Today, more than 50 companies trade regularly on the exchange while in excess of 140 million barrels of crude oil were delivered through the DME during 2010.

The DME’s role as a provider of risk management capabilities has been enhanced in 2010 through the launch of six DME Oman-linked swap and option contracts by Nymex, part of the CME Group, it added.

The contracts are DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures; DME Oman Crude Oil Balmo Swap Futures, ICE Brent vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures, ME Oman Crude Oil Average Price Option, Singapore Mogas 92 Unleaded (Platts) vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures and Singapore Gasoil (Platts) vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures.-TradeArabia News Service