LNG

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.

Oman, the Arabian Peninsula country and oil producer and long-standing LNG exporter, has been hit by a cyclone, causing major disruption with power cuts and flooding.

The Oil Ministry issued a statement saying that loadings and operations may be temporarily affected as “Cyclone Shaheen” moved along the Sea of Oman.

However, the Ministry said oil fields are far from the path of the cyclone and that there was unlikely to be interruptions to the production of oil nor of feed gas for LNG.

The main Omani LNG export facilities are at the port of Sur on the Gulf of Oman. The plant comprises the three amalgamated liquefaction Trains of two former separate companies, Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG.

Oman exports around 11 million tonnes per annum and its customers include South Korea with around 3.9MT of annual supplies, Japan with about 3MT as well as other leading importers like China and India.

Oman's National Multi Hazard Early Warning System said “Cyclone Shaheen” was accompanied by wind speeds of up to 116 kilometres per hour (72 mph) when it hit the country on October 3, with the cyclone causing heavy rainfall and high waves.

According to the authorities the areas affected by “Cyclone Shaheen” were in the wilayats of Musannah in South Al Batinah Governorate and Saham in North Al Batinah Governorate.

Rescues

There were no clear details of casualties, though dozens of people have been rescued by the Civil Defence and Ambulance Department (CDAA) in different areas.

Oman Air rescheduled 10 flights to an earlier departure time before the cyclone hit.

New gas fields have boosted feed-gas availability for LNG exports in the last few years from the onshore Block 61 comprising the ‎Khazzan field, which began production in 2017, and the Ghazeer field, onstream since October 2020.

Block 61 covers around 3,950 square kilometres in central Oman, and contains the largest tight-gas ‎development in the Middle East.

Gas from the Block is also sent for domestic consumption ‎into Oman’s national gas grid.

Oman is also making progress with developing the Sohar Port and Freezone that is also the future site of an LNG bunkering project on the Arabian Sea coast and near the entry to the Gulf by the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman’s Sohar Port is one of the fastest-growing in the world because of its strategic location.