Crude Oil Overview - CME Group

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Gain direct exposure to the crude oil market using CME Group West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Light Sweet Crude Oil futures, the world’s most liquid oil contract. WTI Crude Oil futures and options are the most efficient way to trade the largest light, sweet crude oil blend. Hedge to minimize the impact of potentially adverse price moves on the value of oil-related assets, or trade to express your views on oil price movements.

Latest Energy news

Trading the Arb on CME Direct Interactive Expiration Calendar Open Interest Profile Tool Commitment of Traders QuikStrike tools CME Direct Trading Grids Hedging with WTI Crude Oil Weekly Options Energy Quarterly Update Daily Bulletin Marker Prices Request for Quote North American Crude Futures and Options Refined Products

Features and benefits

Deep, liquid market

Over 1 million contracts of WTI futures and options trade daily, with approximately 4 million contracts of open interest.

Global benchmark

WTI is the go-to measure for the world oil price, with the U.S. producing and exporting record amounts of crude oil.

≥ 80% margin offsets

Trade with other NYMEX oil contracts for significant savings and precise exposure.

Physical settlement

NYMEX WTI is closely connected to the spot market, reducing costs. Financial look-alike products offer an alternative to clients looking for cash-settlement.

60/40 US tax treatment

Enjoy 60% long-term, 40% short-term treatment on capital gains.

Futures leverage

Control a large contract value with a small amount of capital. Used properly, futures are a powerful way to increase capital efficiency and exposure.

New Trading Sim, New Trading Challenges

Take your trading to the next level with our new Trading Simulator and get to know our range of futures contracts in our Trading Challenges.

Get started

Explore this product in depth

WTI Crude Oil CVOL Index

Track forward-looking risk expectations on WTI Crude Oil with the CME Group Volatility Index (CVOLTM), a robust measure of 30-day implied volatility derived from deeply liquid options on WTI Crude Oil futures.

CME Direct

Trade the markets all on one screen

Access the world's only liquid Crude Oil Weekly options market on CME Direct, a one-stop trading platform for futures, options and blocks.

WTI Weekly options Quick Options Grid WTI Weekly options Combos Grid WTI Weekly options Market Activity Grid

1. Right click on the titles above and save the files as an .xml to your computer. 
2. Import the grids into CME Direct with the Import View in the main menu.

PRODUCTS

Micro WTI Crude Oil options

Options on Micro WTI futures are now trading. Building on the strength and liquidity of Micro WTI futures, Micro WTI options can add versatility to your crude oil strategies.

Learn more

WTI INSIGHTS BY PVM: SUBSCRIBE FOR INSIGHT TO CRACK THE CRUDE OIL MARKETS

NYMEX WTI and the oil market ecosystem

Spread NYMEX WTI with other liquid NYMEX energy benchmarks to easily capture inherent price relationships, and get cross-margin savings, operational efficiencies, and lower costs.

NYMEX WTI Crude and NYMEX RBOB Gas

Gasoline prices are impacted by crude oil price changes and can be traded with RBOB futures or RBOB as a spread to WTI.

View NYMEX RBOB Gas Contract Specs

NYMEX WTI Crude and NYMEX Heating Oil and ULSD

Crude oil costs account for 56% of the average price of a gallon of heating oil or ultra-low-sulfur diesel.

View NYMEX Heating Oil and ULSD

NYMEX WTI Crude and NYMEX Brent Oil

North Sea Brent represents the price of light, sweet crude oil in Europe. Trade the spread between these two crudes at NYMEX for increased efficiency.

View NYMEX Brent Oil Contract Specs

NYMEX WTI Crude and DME Oman Oil

Trade the relationship between light sweet (WTI) and “sour” crude (DME Oman crude), used primarily in Asia.

View DME Oman Oil Contract Specs

Compare NYMEX WTI futures vs. other oil and energy products

• No management: fee Unlike ETFs, pay no management fee with NYMEX WTI futures
• Trade around the clock: 24 hour-access means no waiting for the ETF open as market events (U.S. elections, weather events) that impact oil prices unfold
• Unparalleled liquidity: Enjoy significantly more daily liquidity than founds with other oil instruments

• Direct exposure: Many of today’s oil and energy index ETFs use NYMEX WTI futures to get their oil market exposure
• No roll slippage: Avoid the costly loss of correlation to oil market that many oil ETFs exhibit near the futures roll 

• Direct exposure: Easier to trade on oil price changes in futures vs. stocks
• No uptick rule: Easily sell short with NYMEX WTI futures, no uptick rule or special requirements to worry about

• Trade around the clock: Nearly 24-hour access enables you to react to off-hour news and events affecting the oil market
• Margin efficiency: Basket of oil company stocks requires 50% margin paid upfront vs. 3%-12% margin of NYMEX WTI contract value, translating to greater buying power

Key economic reports and factors that move markets

Released on Wednesdays, EIA reports track US crude inventories levels stored for future use.

Released on Tuesdays, API reports track total US and regional inventories and refinery operations data.

When the 14 top exporting countries gather for OPEC meetings, the oil markets listen.

These reports track use vs. capacity for available oil refineries.

GDP reports track the health of the US economy, and in turn, consumer demand for gasoline.

Cheaper natural gas affects oil demand as a viable energy alternative.

Weather can impact major production sites and pipelines.

Events such as war, financial crises and elections can affect oil policy and costs.

Updates to policy can dramatically impact world oil supply—and in turn, prices.

Check out the "Learn about Key Economic Events" course and economic release calendar at the CME Institute to learn more.

Market Commentary

View the latest insights on trends in the Energy market.

View all Energy Commentary Videos

Courses

Take self-guided courses on Crude Oil futures and options products.

If you're new to futures, the courses below can help you quickly understand the Crude Oil market and start trading.

Explore more courses

Contact an Energy expert

Connect with a member of our expert Energy team for more information about our products.

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WTI Crude Oil CVOL Index

Track forward-looking risk expectations on WTI Crude Oil with the CME Group Volatility Index (CVOLTM), a robust measure of 30-day implied volatility derived from deeply liquid options on WTI Crude Oil futures.

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

About Crude Oil

Trade NYMEX WTI Crude Oil futures (CL), the world’s most liquid crude oil contract. When traders need the current oil price, they check the WTI Crude Oil price. WTI (West Texas Intermediate, a US light sweet crude oil blend) futures provide direct crude oil exposure and are the most efficient way to trade oil after a sharp rise in US crude oil production.

Use WTI Crude Oil futures to hedge against adverse oil price moves or speculate on whether WTI oil prices will rise or fall. Our diverse WTI futures and options suite provides more flexibility to trade oil with WTI Crude Oil price discovery. View delayed WTI Oil prices and WTI Oil price charts below.

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

OPEC Watch

Stay up to date with the probabilities of certain outcomes of the next OPEC meeting using NYMEX WTI Crude Oil option prices.

Interactive Expiration Calendar

Use this calendar to find relevant product dates and CME Group holiday hours.

Option Settlement Tools

Analyze settlement values for all CME Group options products, including both settlement prices and implied volatilities.

Open Interest Profile Tool

Analyze open interest and open interest change patterns for each expiration within the selected product.

Looking for more? Explore our additional resources

Products

Weekly energy options Micro WTI Crude Oil futures Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Container Freight futures

Resources

Trading resources Tools Research and analysis Expiration Calendar

NOW TRADING: MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WTI WEEKLY OPTIONS

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