London - April 8, 2008: The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) today announced that it has won the "Exchange Newcomer of the Year" 2008 Award from FOW, a leading global derivatives magazine. The prize was announced in London on 7 April 2008 at a prestigious industry event attended by leading figures and institutions from the derivatives and risk management industry and exchange world.
Launched in 1982, FOW is a leading trade publication read extensively by the global derivatives and risk management community and its annual awards seek to recognise innovation and excellence among derivatives exchanges and market participants around the world.
As "Exchange Newcomer of the Year" the DME was honoured by industry participants and the Exchange community. Since its launch in June 2007, the Exchange has emerged as the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, providing price transparency and market liquidity for crude oil from the world's foremost oil producing and exporting region. The Exchange has developed and lists the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract, addressing the growing market need for price discovery of Middle East Sour Crude Oil while simultaneously bridging the time-zone gap between Europe, Asia and North America. The Exchange will also be listing two financially settled futures contracts very soon, pending regulatory approval.
Chairman of the DME, Ahmad Sharaf accepted the award in London on behalf of the Exchange. Commenting on the honour, Mr. Sharaf said, "On behalf of everyone at the DME, we are delighted to receive this award. Being named "Exchange Newcomer of the Year" reinforces the success of DME and the significant industry support we have enjoyed since the announcement of our intention to launch the Exchange and in the ten months since we began our operations.
"Importantly, this award also serves to highlight the truly monumental nature of what has been achieved by the DME in establishing the Exchange. The sheer challenge of creating a new international energy futures exchange and a new futures contract simultaneously was tremendous. That the DME has successfully done both has been a historic accomplishment. Today, we see the Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract continuing to gain acceptance as the global benchmark for the pricing of Middle East crude oil and witness new participants from around the world trading on the Exchange every day. What has been achieved by the DME in such a short period of time is truly remarkable and we are gratified that the efforts of our staff, partners and customers to make the Exchange a success have been recognised by FOW and our industry peers. We fully expect that the DME will continue to build on this strong start and make even greater strides ahead in the year to come."
The DME has acted as a catalyst for economic growth and development in line with the vision for Dubai, and is a testament to the collaboration of its partners - Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), and the Oman Investment Fund (OIF).
While still in its infancy, the DME continues to make steady progress. On an almost monthly basis, new highs are being recorded in the volume of contracts traded and the levels of open interest. By March 2008, the total number of Oman Crude Oil Futures contracts traded since launch was over 300,000 contracts, representing 300 million barrels of oil, and the contract has actively traded out as far as February 2010.
