Aim is to extend footprint of DME Oman crude futures Follows launch last week of Abu Dhabi "Murban" contract DUBAI: The Dubai Mercantile Exchange launched a bilateral platform to trade multiple Middle East oil grades priced against DME’s Oman crude futures. It offer traders the opportunity to trade bilateral barrels of Dubai, Upper Zakum, Murban, Basrah Light, Basrah Heavy, Al Shaheen and Oman versus the DME Oman Sour Crude Benchmark futures, the exchange said in a statement on Monday. The platform, called the Alternative Crude Ecosystem (ACE), aims to extend the footprint of DME Oman crude futures as a benchmark for Middle East crude. “ACE is a unique platform where it combines Futures and OTC in one transparent window for the very first time, offering all participants opportunities to optimize their trading activities and manage their exposure across multiple crude grades,” said DME Managing Director Raid Al-Salami. It comes a week after neighboring Abu Dhabi launched the Murban crude contract.