There are two oil prices you will see most: US Oil (West Texas Intermediate, symbol USOIL) and Brent (UKOIL), the North Sea benchmark. Both are quoted in US dollars per barrel.
Monthly contracts
Oil is traded on futures markets as contracts with a delivery month, and our oil CFDs follow those monthly contracts. In MetaTrader 5 the tradable symbol ends with its month and year, for example USOil_X26 or UKOil_Z26. The plain name, such as USOil, is a continuous chart for reading the price; it cannot be traded.
One lot is 1,000 barrels
One lot is 1,000 barrels. A move of $0.01 a barrel is worth $10 on one lot, and a move of $1 is worth $1,000.
The fixed spread
The spread on US Oil and on Brent is fixed at 2 cents a barrel. On one lot that costs 1,000 × $0.02 = $20 when you open, whatever the news.
Expiry: close and reopen in time
Each contract has an expiry date, shown in the symbol's Details in MetaTrader 5. The next contract opens about a week before the current one expires. At expiry, any position still open on the old contract is closed automatically. If you want to stay in the market, close your position yourself and reopen it on the new contract before the expiry date.
Because they are futures contracts, indices, oil and other commodities carry no storage fee for holding a position. The date to watch is the expiry.
Worked example
- You buy 1 lot of USOil_X26: 1,000 barrels.
- Margin set aside: $1,000.
- Spread cost when you open: $20.
- The price moves $0.50 a barrel against you: −$500 on the position.
- A few days before expiry you close it and, if you wish, reopen on the next month's contract.
Key points
- US Oil (USOIL) and Brent (UKOIL) are quoted in dollars per barrel; one lot is 1,000 barrels.
- You trade the monthly contract, such as USOil_X26; the plain name is a chart only.
- The spread is fixed at 2 cents a barrel: $20 on one lot.
- At expiry, positions on the old contract are closed automatically — close and reopen on the new contract before that date if you want to stay in.
Try it
Read the futures contracts section of our trading conditions, then find the expiry date of an oil contract in the symbol's Details in MetaTrader 5.
See the monthly contracts