The Dubai Mercantile Exchange’s flagship crude oil futures contract is based on Oman Crude.
The contract, commonly known as DME Oman, was designed as a physically delivered benchmark for crude exported from the Middle East to Asian markets. Its underlying grade is Oman crude, a medium sour crude produced by the Sultanate of Oman.
The exchange launched in 2007 as a partnership involving the Dubai government, Oman’s state oil company OQ—then known as Oman Oil—and major financial partners. DME Oman became important because it offered a transparent, exchange-traded price reference for a region where many crude sales had traditionally relied on official pricing formulas.
Dubai Crude is a different regional benchmark, while Brent is a North Sea benchmark and Murban is an Abu Dhabi grade. Another current wrinkle is organizational: the Dubai Mercantile Exchange was later rebranded as the Gulf Mercantile Exchange, but the Oman crude contract remains the same central instrument and is still widely called DME Oman.