Oil market watchers will now be able to get a view of which direction traders are placing bets on the Middle East crude benchmark as exchange operator ICE Futures Europe expands the data it provides.
ICE will begin including positioning data from traders for three Dubai oil related contracts, including the spread between global physical benchmark Dated Brent versus Dubai crude, starting Friday. Historical data for 2023 also is being made available.
Until now there was little transparency on how traders used related futures contracts in Middle Eastern physical markets. ICE’s commitment of traders report will now break down positioning in Dubai contracts by trader types, such as money managers and commercial players, and show which way they are betting on prices to move.
Dubai crude is the main benchmark for traders in Asia who buy cargoes from the Middle East. Its trading volumes and open interest have surged this year as supply curbs by Saudi Arabia and Russia have restricted availability of oil that’s similar in quality to Dubai.
