LNG

European natural gas and LNG prices have spiked because of the ethnic cleansing crisis facing Armenians in the South Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union and the European Union has been urged by French and Dutch politicians and others to end the gas supply agreement with Azerbaijan with the existing and new volumes aimed at southern Europe amid concerns the deal for increased supplies cannot be delivered anyway by 2027.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of market trading platforms, said a total of over one million futures contracts have traded on the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) exchange since to was launched at the end of March 2021.

ICE said the trading volume was equivalent of one billion barrels of Murban crude oil, a new Middle East pricing benchmark.

The development of the Murban crude market in the United Arab Emirates comes as ICE has also reported record trading in the global natural gas complex, including the European Dutch Title Transfer facility (TTF), the US Henry Hub and products linked to the Japan-Korea Marker LNG spot cargo price.

ICE said that total Murban Crude Oil futures traded on IFAD since the launch is 1,047,829 contracts.

The total comprises 1,029,770 Murban Crude Oil futures contracts and 18,059 cash settled derivatives.

IFAD now has more than 30 exchange members and clearing members including major global brokerages and investment banks.

Contracts traded on the IFAD exchange are cleared through ICE Clear Europe alongside ICE’s global energy futures platform.

Takayuki Ueda, President and Chief Executive of Inpex Corp of Japan, a shareholder in Australian LNG, said the company was resolute on helping IFAD progress.

Members

“Through IFAD, we continue to be committed to contributing to the development of the futures market exchange while working more closely with ICE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and our partners to further improve the market for Murban crude,” Ueda declared.

Thomas Waymel, President of France’s TotalEnergies Trading SA, said that as an IFAD shareholder and active participant, the company was proud to contribute to advancing IFAD, which helps create more transparent Asian markets.

“The liquidity that IFAD is providing to the market is greatly appreciated and thanks to Murban’s sustainable production, wide customer base and excellent logistical capabilities, we are confident that further success is ahead,” stated Waymel.

Mike Muller, the Asian head of the Vitol global commodities firm, agreed that Murban futures were adding to price discovery in Asia and thus enhancing the functioning of both regional and international markets.

“Moreover, the physical delivery mechanism has worked smoothly over the first 7 months since launch and open interest continues to grow,” added Muller.

“Given this encouraging start, we are confident that the IFAD Murban futures contract will make many more headlines as it continues to grow in importance,” stated the Vitol executive.