The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, today announced its first-ever listing of Middle East refined products.

Middle East 180cst and 380cst high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) will be available to trade through DME from 16 May 2016.

These fuel oil contracts will settle against the existing MOPAG 180cst and MOPAG 380cst assessments provided by price reporting agency Platts.

The listing opens the way for traders to directly hedge fuel oil delivered in the Gulf region and to trade the important spread between the Middle East and Singapore fuel oil markets.  Middle East fuel oil can also be hedged against the DME’s flagship Oman crude oil contract, with generous margin offsets available.

Speaking at Gulf Intelligence’s Oil Market Workshop in Dubai, Owain Johnson, Managing Director, DME said, “The Middle East has tremendous potential as a key global trading and pricing hub for refined products and the listing of high-sulfur fuel oil derivatives on the DME is a significant step towards helping the region realize its full potential as a trading hub.”

“DME is very excited about progress at the Fujairah oil hub and we hope this listing will help to encourage the development of a vibrant derivatives market based around Fujairah assessments,” he added.