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Formerly known as DME (Dubai Mercantile Exchange), GME (Gulf Mercantile Exchange) has a distinguished history of providing robust and reliable commodity trading solutions. DME was founded with the vision of creating Internationally accessible derivatives markets for Middle East commodities.
Launched in June 2007 as a joint venture between Dubai Holding, Oman Investment Authority, and CME Group, DME aimed to bring fair and transparent price discovery and efficient risk management to the East of Suez. The Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) became its flagship contract, providing the most transparent crude oil benchmark for the region and the largest physically delivered crude contract in the world and over 3 Billion Barrels Delivered through the exchange mechanism with 21 Billion Barrels Traded.
On inception of the DME Oman Crude contract the Oman National Oil Company (Ministry of Oil and Gas in 2007) adopted the DME price discovery mechanism as the basis for pricing all its Oil exports to Asia (East of Suez).
This price National level recognition of DME was followed by Dubai Department of Petroleum Affairs (2009), Saudi Aramco (2018), Bahrain Petroleum Company (2018), and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (2020) all committing to use the benchmark in their pricing formula with their Asia customers.
In 2024, The Saudi Tadawul Group (STG) acquired a third strategic stake in DME. This acquisition marked a significant milestone in the exchange’s evolution, prompting its rebranding to the Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME) and recognition of its Middle East markets expertise to drive a 10 year plan to build commodity markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Araia and across the GCC.
GME is strategically located within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a financial free zone dedicated to promoting financial services within the UAE. The exchange is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
In partnership with CME Group shareholder, GME products are listed and executed on the CME Globex matching engine and cleared via by CME Clearing. CME is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is recognized by the DFSA.
GME is located within the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a financial free zone designed to promote financial services within the UAE.
GME is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and all trades executed on GME are cleared through and guaranteed by CME Clearing. CME is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a Recognized Body by the DFSA.
To establish GME as the premier and most transparent pricing venue for commodities within the GCC, setting the standard for excellence and reliability in the region.
To create regional derivative commodity markets providing international market participants with direct access to innovative, efficient and secure risk management tools.
DME was officially launched. This marked a historic change in crude oil pricing, particularly for Oman, which implemented these changes to better reflect market dynamics.
The DME Oman contract was introduced, providing a transparent pricing mechanism for Middle Eastern crude oil, specifically targeting Asian markets.
Dubai adopted the DME Oman contract for pricing its crude oil exports. This was a significant endorsement, and the DME reached a milestone of 1 billion barrels traded.
DME further innovated by launching DME Auctions, providing a new platform for auctioning crude oil and enhancing market transparency.
DME achieved another significant milestone by reaching the 10 billion barrels mark and conducting the first auction of Oman crude oil.
SOMO (State Oil Marketing Organization of Iraq) started using DME Auctions, selling 20 million barrels by the end of the year.
Saudi Aramco and BAPCO (Bahrain Petroleum Company) began using the DME Oman contract in 2018, further cementing its credibility and adoption in the region.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) also adopted the DME Oman contract. DME Oman now represented 36% of the Middle Eastern crude heading to the Asian market, a significant increase from just 8% in 2007.
A platform to enable the market to see transparent pricing for cargo swaps between OTC and Derivatives market for the first time.
In 2024, STG (Saudi Tadawul Group) acquired a strategic stake in DME to create Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME), aiming to further enhance and expand the market. By this time, DME had traded 20 billion barrels and delivered 3 billion barrels.
The story of DME is one of innovation, strategic partnerships, and continuous growth, transforming the landscape of crude oil pricing and trading in the GCC region and beyond. As DME evolves into GME, it continues to pioneer new benchmarks and trading solutions, reinforcing its role as a critical player in the global commodities market.