India’s NSE to roll out Platt’s Dated Brent crude oil futures contracts

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India will introduce Dated Brent Crude Oil (Platts) Futures contracts, available for trading in the NSE Commodity Derivatives segment from April 13, according to a March 27 circular from the exchange.

The futures contract is based on the physical Platts Dated Brent crude oil benchmark and will be listed as "BRCRUDEOIL".

The Dated Brent Crude Oil (Platts) futures contract will be cash-settled, priced, and traded in Indian rupees. One lot equals 100 barrels.

The final settlement price will be based on the monthly simple average of Platts Dated Brent assessments, converted into rupees using the average RBI dollar-rupee reference rate

Prior to this, India's main commodity bourse, the Multi Commodity Exchange, has offered the MCX Crude Oil Futures contract, listed since Oct. 11, 2005. Similar to the NSE Dated Brent Crude Oil (Platts) Futures contracts, the MCX Crude Oil Futures contract is also cash-settled, priced, and traded in Indian rupees. One lot equals 100 barrels.

However, the MCX crude oil futures contract settles based on NYMEX WTI crude oil prices and comprises mostly light, sweet crude oil with sulfur content below 0.42% and API gravity from 37 to 42 degrees.

The launch of NSE's Dated Brent Crude Oil (Platts) Futures contracts provides refiners and importers of physical crude grades exposure to the Dated Brent benchmark, with an India-based trader noting that it will also improve overall liquidity in the crude derivative space in India.

"I think it's a positive move considering the fact that most of the Indian imports are tied to Dated Brent," said another India-based crude trader.