ICE hits Dubai, Murban records amid spike in oil trading

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has seen record trading in its Dubai (Platts) and Murban futures markets in July.

ICE Dubai (Platts) saw record open interest and average daily volume (ADV) hit fresh highs in July. Open interest was at 946,080 lots across futures and options at the end of the month, up 55% compared to July 2022. Average daily volume nearly doubled to a 81,094 contracts in the month. ICE Murban futures, meanwile, hit a record 61,301 lots on July 28, and ADV was at 12,000 for the first time in the period.

“The growth of our Murban and Dubai futures markets has been phenomenal this year,” Jeff Barbuto, global head of oil markets at ICE said in a statement. “It’s a great sign that our customers are finding value and liquidity in the markets we worked with them to develop, which is always our goal.”

Around 11 million barrels of Murban crude went to delivery at the last expiry date, its second highest level. The news follows increased volumes across oil markets, as receding recession expectations and a technical change to the complex have spurred demand in recent months.

Murban has seen two days in August with volume above 17,000 contracts this month (on August 3 and 7), reflecting continued trading into the end of the summer, according to figures provided by the exchange.

Both ICE and CME Group reported record trading across their crude oil markets in May, as the change in the Brent basket took effect. Commodity index provider Argus started including Midland WTI in the basket of six eligible crude grades for Brent from May 2 while Platts added WTI Midland into its dated Brent assessment for June 2023 deliveries.

Interdealer broker TP ICAP on Wednesday reported a 12% increase in energy and commodities revenue, citing greater global demand and supply in oil markets.