The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) saw record average daily volumes for its Oman crude oil futures contract in March, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The volume of trading for March reached 2,369 lots, up nearly 15.5 per cent from its previous record last November.

The DME launched its Oman futures contract in June 2007 in an attempt to establish a new benchmark price for the 12 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exported from the Middle East to Asia daily.

The DME hit a record volume of 6,484 lots on January 13.  The Oman contract has survived longer than other attempts to establish a benchmark for high sulphur, or sour, Middle East crude but volumes remain thin.

Small independent producers Oman and Dubai have a stake in the exchange and use it to price their oil, making the Oman contract the first to have the official backing of Middle East oil producers. The DME is also looking to launch options contracts.-Reuters