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London oil exchange to sell Middle East heavy crude
AFP
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 04 20 07
London's Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) oil market said Thursday it would launch a new crude oil contract next month for sour crude from the Middle East.
The new heavy crude contract will be priced in US dollars and sold alongside London's Brent North Sea crude and New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude, the exchange said in a statement.
The Middle East sour crude contract will launch on May 21 pending regulatory approval, it added.
Consumers have access to large supplies of heavy, sour crude, but most refiners prefer light, sweet oil -- such as Brent North Sea -- because of its low sulphur content and relatively high yields of gasoline, heating oil, diesel and jet fuel.
The ICE's move will mark the first time that an existing sour crude contract has been traded alongside Brent and New York crude.
"We have designed this contract in response to customer demand for a better tool to serve their risk management needs within the dynamic global crude market," said David Peniket, ICE Futures president.
"This will be particularly useful for producers, refiners and hedgers in Asia and the Middle East, as well as complementary to our highly liquid Brent and WTI contracts."
The Middle East is one of the world's largest crude oil producing regions and sends around 70 percent of its exports to Asia.
AFP 19 1606 GMT 04 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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