ADNOC Trading to start operations in December

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) hosted its 2nd annual Trading Forum, held virtually on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).

During ADNOC Trading forum, ADNOC briefed delegates on the start of derivatives trading by ADNOC Trading and the expected start of trading operations next month at ADNOC Global Trading (AGT), its joint venture with ENI and OMV.

Participants at the Forum heard from global industry leaders who commended Abu Dhabi Global Market (AGDM) on the steps it has taken to become a leading global commodities trading hub.

Speaking during a keynote interview at the event, His Excellency Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of ADGM, said: “ADGM is proud to be the new home of trading in the UAE and for the region. As a global commodities trading hub, we see sustained growth and significant economic development created by trading entities. We warmly welcome ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) and the new ADNOC Global Trading to the ADGM community, and commend ADNOC Trading for their recent milestone of the first derivatives trade made in the UAE.”

The inaugural ADNOC Trading Forum took place in 2019, setting out the vision for ADNOC’s move into trading. In 2020, delegates heard that this vision has become reality with the establishment of two new trading entities within ADNOC’s Marketing, Supply and Trading Directorate: ADNOC Trading, which focuses on the trading of crude oil, and; ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) focused on the trading of refined products and the purchase of non-ADNOC crudes for ADNOC Refining in coordination with ADNOC Trading.

Khaled Salmeen, Executive Director of Marketing, Supply and Trading in ADNOC said: “We were pleased to be joined by over 500 oil and gas executives and members of the global trading community at this years’ virtual ADNOC Trading Forum. At last years’ event, ADNOC set out our strategic plans to become a more proactive and adaptive marketer and trader, and this year we have delivered on those plans. ADNOC Trading began derivatives trading in September and, as H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Group CEO noted in his opening speech at the ADIPEC conference, ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) will formally begin trading operations in December.”

Following the announcement at last years’ ADIPEC that a new global commodities exchange would be launched in Abu Dhabi, ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD), the President of ICE Futures Europe, Stuart Williams, shared an update on the progress that has been made, including the recent FBOT recognition from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in the USA, which allows traders and clearers based in the US to trade and clear IFAD markets when it launches.

Williams noted that: “ICE plans to launch IFAD and the new ICE Murban Futures on the 29th March 2021, subject to regulatory approval. Significant progress has already been made, and the IFAD office is now established at ADGM. We are seeing strong market interest in the new Murban Futures contract and, just recently, ADNOC and IFAD signed agreements with U.S. companies Chevron and Occidental Energy Marketing, a subsidiary of Occidental, and global trading group, Trafigura where each company has agreed to explore potential opportunities to price U.S. crude exports to Asia off Murban Futures. We are excited about the launch and will be working closely with customers and clearing members as they get ready for the launch of trading.”