RIL becomes Dubai Mercantile Exchange member

Reliance Industries (RIL) has become a member of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), the first major Indian company to participate directly in the global oil futures market.

"Having one of the world's largest energy companies choose DME as its first oil futures market is testament to the important position DME now occupies as the Middle East's premier international energy futures and commodities exchange," DME Chairman Ahmad Sharaf said.

RIL got listed on DME on Wednesday as the 26th off-floor (overseas) member. A statement from the Exchange said it had passed the three billion barrel trading mark in May and is growing fast.

"RIL's membership comes at a time when, having just marked our five-year anniversary, we are continuing to see sustained growth in trading volumes," a statement from the Exchange read.

RIL is understood to be the first major Indian enterprise to participate directly in a global oil futures market, emphasising the trend of continued growth in Asian oil production.

Sharaf said this will add to DME's international membership as firms of RIL's scale, help position the Exchange for the next five years, during which the Asian oil market is likely to grow at a rapid pace.