Participants can trade one of the world’s most liquid oil commodities in an electronic marketplace with the ICE West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures Contract. The contract not only offers the convenience of electronic trading for a US light sweet crude benchmark, but it also links together the world’s most important crude benchmarks on a single exchange: Brent, (Platts) Dubai, and WTI, as well as emerging benchmarks Murban and Midland WTI AGC. The offsetting of margins allows for a reduction in collateral requirements.
What is the purpose of WTI oil futures?
In theory, oil futures contracts are straightforward. They keep the time-honored practice of certain market participants selling risk to others who willingly buy it in the expectation of profiting. To put it another way, buyers and sellers agree on a price for oil (or soybeans, or gold) that will be traded at some point in the future, rather than today. While no one knows what price oil will trade at in nine months, futures market participants believe they can.
What does WTI stand for?
- The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a light, sweet crude oil that is used as a global benchmark.
- It is predominantly sourced from inland Texas and is one of the world’s best grade oils, as well as one of the easiest to refine.
- WTI is frequently contrasted to Brent crude, which serves as an oil benchmark for two-thirds of global oil contracts and is based on North Sea oil.
Is it possible to purchase WTI futures?
There are a few different ways to get your hands on crude oil futures. The following are a few of the most common:
- Directly purchase oil futures. The first alternative is to buy and sell oil futures on a commodities exchange directly. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are two of the most well-known (CME or CME Group). You can also use a broker, such as TradeStation, to make your transaction.
- ETFs can be bought and sold. You can invest in oil-related exchange-traded funds if you’d prefer let someone else handle the buying and selling of oil futures while paying minimum costs (ETFs). However, before you acquire a fund, make sure you read the fine print. Some of these funds invest in oil futures and other oil-related derivatives, while others invest in oil producing firms, so you won’t have any direct exposure to physical oil.
There are a few things to bear in mind regardless of how you choose to get into the futures industry:
- Price fluctuations are frequent. Oil futures prices are notorious for their extreme volatility. As a result, it’s critical that you stick to your trading plan, even if that means occasionally accepting a loss – an unpleasant truth that all investors must embrace.
- It’s essential to conduct research on a daily basis. The price of oil is affected by a number of factors, each of which can produce significant price changes on its own. Not only should you conduct daily research, but you should also keep up with the news, not only to keep track of how oil is performing at the present, but also to keep track of the state of geopolitical and economic situations, weather events, and the other elements stated above.
- If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t use margins. The attraction of the enormous rewards that successful margin trades can give is difficult to ignore as a newbie. You should avoid trading on margin until you are an experienced oil futures trader, no matter how challenging it may be. Sure, there’s the possibility for massive returns, but there’s also the risk of large loses.
What do oil futures imply?
Oil futures are agreements to exchange a specific amount of oil at a specific price on a specific date. They’re traded on exchanges and reflect distinct forms of oil demand. Oil futures are a popular way to purchase and sell oil since they allow you to trade increasing and decreasing prices.
To trade oil futures, how much money do you need?
The amount of money you’ll need in your account to day trade a crude oil futures contract varies depending on your futures broker, but you’ll need at least $1,000. Keep in mind that you’ll need enough funds in your account to cover any possible losses. If you don’t want to risk more than 1% of your cash on every single trade, you can limit yourself to $10 per trade.
How do oil futures generate revenue?
Market bubbles are frequently blamed on speculators. They raise asset values until they burst, profit from negative bets on the way down, and then switch their bets when the market bottoms. Oil speculators are frequently blamed for the current price volatility. Oil speculators have continued to migrate in and out of the market in quest of enormous returns, and this time has been no different. Here’s one of the more bizarre ways traders are trying to profit from the current oil market turbulence.
Typically, oil speculators earn money by speculating on crude oil futures. These bullish or bearish paper or electronic bets entail buying or selling a futures contract for a fixed quantity of oil at a price agreed upon today with a future delivery date. Someone negative on oil, for example, could sell short a futures contract, then buy back the contract at the now-lower pricing and pocket the difference if oil fell. It’s worth noting, though, that futures traders almost never take physical delivery of the oil, preferring instead to buy or sell contracts.
These negative bets flooded the market in the fall of 2014, as oil speculators became increasingly gloomy on the commodity, with some predicting that oil prices would plummet to $0. Traders proceeded to cover their short positions and create fresh bullish bets, intending to benefit if oil prices soon returned, and those bearish transactions began to flip more recently. Another bullish wager is reported to be in the works, in which some oil speculators are buying real oil and storing it at sea for a year in order to profit handsomely when oil prices rise in the future.
A bizarre oil trade is being set up by some of the world’s major oil trading corporations, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, according to a recent Reuters exclusive.
Why is Brent more affordable than WTI?
Another factor is that WTI is produced in landlocked areas and must now be transported to the coast, where the majority of refineries are located. There is an oil supply glut in the United States’ midwest due to increased oil production in the United States. As a result, WTI oil now trades at a “discount” to Brent oil.
WTI futures are traded where?
The word West Texas Intermediate (WTI) refers to a crude oil grade or blend, as well as the spot price, futures price, or assessed price for that oil. WTI is most commonly used to refer to the New York Mercantile Exchange’s WTI Crude Oil futures contract (NYMEX). Although oil produced from any area can be considered WTI if it fits the specified specifications, the WTI oil grade is also known as Texas light sweet. In oil pricing, the spot and futures prices of WTI are used as a benchmark. Because of its low density and low sulfur level, this grade is referred to as light crude oil and sweet crude oil.
The price of WTI, as well as the price of Brent crude from the North Sea, is frequently mentioned in news reporting on oil prices. The Dubai crude, Oman crude, Urals oil, and the OPEC reference basket are all key oil benchmarks. WTI is lighter and sweeter than Brent, with less sulfur, and much lighter and sweeter than Dubai or Oman.
Brent or WTI: which is better?
Brent gets its oil primarily from the North Sea’s more than a dozen oil fields. Despite having a greater sulfur concentration than WTI, it is nevertheless considered a sweet crude. Brent is already utilized as a pricing benchmark for other grades, despite the fact that the majority of it is intended for European markets.
How do I purchase WTI crude oil?
You can invest in oil commodities in a variety of ways. Oil can also be purchased by the barrel.
Crude oil is traded as light sweet crude oil futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange and other commodities markets across the world. Futures contracts are agreements to provide a specific quantity of a commodity at a specific price and on a specific date in the future.
Oil options are a different way to purchase oil. The buyer or seller of options contracts has the option to swap oil at a later period. You’ll need to trade futures or options on oil on a commodities market if you want to acquire them directly.
The most frequent approach for the average person to invest in oil is to purchase oil ETF shares.
Finally, indirectly investing in oil through the ownership of several oil firms is an option.