DME eyes jet fuel trade in '07, crude on track

DUBAI (Reuters) - The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) expects to launch a jet fuel futures contract by the end of this year after resolving physical delivery issues, its chief executive said on Sunday.

DME chief Gary King also confirmed the exchange was on track to launch its crude oil futures contract, the first backed by a Middle East crude producer, on May 1.

"We are on track to start May 1 and we will get regulatory approval before then," King told the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit in Dubai.

The exchange could also start a non-energy futures contract before the end of the year.

"A non-energy contract is possible this year," he said. "People are coming to us asking us to work with them to develop products to meet their demands."

The exchange is working with companies including Dubai's Emirates EMAIR.UL to develop the jet fuel contract, he said. The exchange was looking at physical delivery within the Gulf region, he said, without giving further details.

"What we are focused on now is the physical delivery aspect of the contract," he said. "We are engaged now in talking about the delivery and location."

July would be the first month for the crude oil futures, he said.

Local and international market players have applied for membership on the exchange, he said, without naming the companies.

"Some of the largest have applied as members and they are international in flavor. I'm very, very surprised at how many have come, so I'm confident that we will have the liquidity we need," King said.

The DME has so far approved 20 members ahead of the start of the long-planned crude contract, a source close to the matter had told Reuters earlier this month.

The DME approved nine members for clearing and 11 off-floor members, the source said.

Oman has pledged to drop its policy of pricing its crude retroactively and to use the new crude futures contract instead.

Some traders and market participants hope that the contract will provide a more liquid, transparent benchmark for Middle East oil exports.

If successful, it could eventually prompt Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, often skeptical of derivatives, to switch their pricing away from published Oman/Dubai assessments and onto the DME contract.