The much-anticipated launch of the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) exchange at last has a date. ICE announced on 9 November that, subject to regulatory approval, the exchange will launch on 29 March 2021.

IFAD will be hosted in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial center with “the world’s first futures contracts based on Murban crude oil.” Murban is state energy firm Adnoc’s flagship grade. More than 1mn b/d of the light crude (40.3°API, 0.78%S) is exported to global markets, with the overwhelming majority flowing to Asian buyers (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 946 WORDS)