BSE inks licensing pact with Intercontinental Exchange to use Brent index

BSE on Monday said it has signed a licensing agreement with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to use its Brent index as the settlement benchmark for the Indian bourse's rupee-denominated brent futures contracts.

India is one of the largest consumers and importers of crude oil in the world and Brent crude is highly co-related with the Indian crude oil basket.

This licensing agreement will help Indian market participants access rupee-denominated Brent benchmark prices and deepen the commodity markets by providing convenient and cost-effective onshore hedging products, BSE said in a statement.

Besides, it will also enable the price discovery of Brent crude in the Indian time zone based on domestic fundamentals.

BSE said it is dedicated to deepening the commodity markets by providing traders, investors and all market participants convenient and cost-effective onshore hedging products.

"Oil producers, refiners, users and investors in India can benefit from access to Brent crude prices. This agreement with ICE marks a new milestone and will go a long way in serving the needs and interests of the Indian energy commodities space," it added.

"BSE welcomes the collaboration with ICE. We look forward to a long-lasting relationship to further deepen our commodity markets," BSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said.

BSE is Asia's oldest stock exchange, while Intercontinental Exchange is a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services.