China seeks major role in oil market

Now Beijing wants a bigger role in pricing the barrels it buys, using its growing muscle to pull power away from traders and exchanges in New York and London.

Later this year the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, known as the INE, aims to launch its first international crude oil contract, in a move it hopes will eventually establish a new Asian benchmark for oil deals.

If successful, China will not only win a slice of the trillion-dollar oil futures business, but could also increase its influence over a market it perceives as often favouring western oil companies and Opec nations.

“It is part of the Chinese dream to be a 100 per cent player on the world stage,” says Dave Ernsberger, global oil director at Platts, which operates the main trading process for pricing Middle Eastern crudes destined for Asia. (by Anjli Raval and David Sheppard, Financial times)

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