The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), the leading energy futures exchange in the Middle East, today announced the addition of Owain Johnson as the Chief of Products and Services to the strategic management team of the Exchange.
Owain joins DME from CME Group, where he spent the previous four years as Executive Director in Singapore, covering the Asian energy and commodity markets. Prior to that Owain spent 10 years as an energy market analyst in the UK and South America, working for a number of high profile companies. A regular speaker at international energy conferences, Owain holds a Masters’ Degree from Cambridge University.
DME’s Chairman Ahmad Sharaf said:
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Owain Johnson as DME’s Chief of Products and Services, and welcome him to the team. Owain’s experience in the Asian energy and commodity markets and his knowledge of the global markets is invaluable and will certainly contribute towards achieving DME’s goals and objectives. His addition to the team underscores the Exchange’s strategy of focusing more attention on the very important Asian markets, which are experiencing rapid growth in oil production and consumption.”
The move follows the DME’s shareholder restructuring, which was completed in February of this year. At that time CME Group increased its stake to 50% and pledged a greater commitment to the DME with more assistance in helping to build the Exchange’s profile in Asia. This latest news is an example of how the strengthened relationship between the two exchanges will allow DME to draw on the expertise of CME Group in its bid to drive volumes and secure its status as the benchmark for pricing oil destined for East of Suez markets.
Owain Johnson, who will join DME on Aug 6, said:
“I am thrilled at the opportunity to further expand on the growth of the Oman oil contract as the benchmark contract for the East of Suez markets. I believe my experience working with and understanding the needs of customers in Asia will help the team execute our goal of growing volumes on the DME, which have hit record levels in recent months.”
Since the beginning of 2012, DME has welcomed new members and shown a significant increase in volumes. Q1 2012 volumes were 57% ahead of Q1 2011 and in April the Exchange announced it had traded more than three million contracts – equivalent to three billion barrels of oil – thereby securing DME Oman’s status as the largest physically delivered crude oil contract in the world.
For more information, please contact:
Farah Ibrahim at TRACCS on farah.ibrahim@traccs.net or +971 4 367 2530
Heather Astbury at DME on heather.astbury@dubaimerc.com or +971 4 365 5522
