By Muyu Xu
SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - The Dubai Mercantile
Exchange (DME) logged an 18% increase in physical deliveries of
Omani crude oil in the first quarter of 2023 from a year
earlier, the bourse said on Thursday, citing resurgent demand in
Asia.
A total of 63.77 million barrels of Omani crude, a medium
sour grade of oil, were delivered via DME, up from 54.01 million
barrels in the first three months of 2022.
The DME Oman crude futures are a physically settled contract
that serve as a Middle East benchmark used by the region's
national oil companies as part of their export pricing formulas.
"We always look at the physical performance of the exchange
as a true indicator of market dynamics in the East of Suez
market. We have seen a strong boost in crude oil demand since
the beginning of the year," DME Managing Director Raid Al-Salami
said in the statement.
DME also registered a 9% increase in first-quarter trading
volume.
Oil demand in Asia have risen this year as countries emerge
from the COVID-19 pandemic and new refineries begin operations.
Western sanctions on Russian oil have also prompted Asian
refiners to secure more sour crude supplies from the Middle East
and boost hedging interest via the exchange.
(Reporting by Muyu Xu
Editing by David Goodman)
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