Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of mortgage technology, data and listings services, announces that ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) with Occidental Energy Marketing, Inc., a subsidiary of Occidental; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; and Trafigura, under which each company has agreed to explore potential opportunities to price US crude exports to Asia off the ICE Murban Futures contract.
“As one of the largest exporters of US crude to Asia, we are pleased to explore opportunities to utilize the new price benchmark for light sweet crude oil that Murban Futures will provide,” said Fred Forthuber, President, Oxy Energy Services. “Murban moving to forward looking pricing, as a futures contract, is another great step in the evolution of the oil market.”
“The Murban Futures Contract is a positive development in enhancing transparency for oil markets and very relevant to us as an active participant in crude oil trading in the Arabian Gulf and as the largest exporter of US crude. We look forward to playing an active part in the new benchmark,” said Daniel Yuen, Head of Crude Asia for Trafigura.
ICE plans to launch IFAD and trading in Murban futures contracts on March 29, 2021, subject to the completion of regulatory approvals. ICE Murban Crude Oil Futures will be a physically delivered contract with delivery at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a free on board (FOB) basis. ICE Murban Futures will be complemented with a range of cash settled derivatives. These include outright, differential and crack differentials against Brent, WTI, Gasoil and Naphtha among others, as well as inter-commodity spreads, which will launch alongside Murban futures.
In November 2019, ICE announced its plans to launch IFAD, with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and nine of the world’s largest energy traders partnering with ICE on the launch.
Contracts traded at IFAD will be cleared at ICE Clear Europe, a leading energy clearing house, and will clear alongside ICE’s leading global energy futures platform covering oil, natural gas and the environmental complex, allowing customers to benefit from associated margin offsets and delivering meaningful capital efficiencies.
