Pakistan to start trade in oil futures

Pakistan's National Commodity Exchange Ltd (NCEL) said in a statement on Monday that the country's markets regulator had formally approved the listing of crude oil futures contracts at NCEL.
"The listing is expected within the next couple of weeks," Samir Ahmed, managing director of NCEL, told Reuters.

He said NCEL has six futures products which include rice, palm oil and several gold contracts, and the introduction of a crude oil contract would fill an important gap for a commodity known for its price volatility.

"This contract will now make it possible for various stakeholders to trade and hedge an important international benchmark within Pakistan," said NCEL in a statement.
The government in June said it was also planning to hedge a portion of its oil purchases but no decision has been made.

Pakistan imports about 80 percent of its oil and spent $9.5 billion on imports of crude oil and petroleum products in fiscal year of 2008/09 (July/June), compared with $11.5 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Source: Reuters