Bahrain Mirror (Reuters): Dubai Mercantile Exchange, DME, has welcomed the latest Middle East oil producer to switch its crude oil pricing formula to include the DME Oman benchmark.

Commenting on the announcement, Raid Al-Salami, Head of DME, said, "We are honoured that Bahrain has decided to incorporate DME Oman into its pricing formula. This marks the latest step in the evolution of the DME Oman crude oil benchmark for regional producers and customers across Asia.

It also represents an important recognition of the contract as the most efficient and transparent price discovery mechanism for regional crude oil heading East of Suez." The Bahrain Petroleum Company informed customers of the pricing formula switch for Arab Medium crude sales to Asia, which comes into effect for October 2018 loading cargoes. Bahrain is the fourth National Oil Company to implement DME Oman in its pricing formula.

The DME Oman crude oil benchmark is currently used to establish the price of crude oil produced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, and the Emirate of Dubai.

Arabic Version