WTI Crude Oil Futures Expiration and Delivery Explained

For the standard CL contract, the current rule measures the expiring month's trading cutoff from the 25th calendar day in the month before delivery. Trading ends on the third business day before that date. If the 25th is not a business day, the rule uses the business day immediately before it as the reference, so a holiday calendar can change a date that a casual description would call “three days before the 25th.”

The rule calls Notice Day the second business day after the last trading day. That is a product-specific CL date, not a label that should be silently replaced with a generic First Notice Day. First notice day and last trading day explains the broader lifecycle terms while preserving the exact product's own calendar.

CL's delivery period is the delivery month, from its first through final calendar day. The delivery framework uses eligible pipeline and storage connections at Cushing, Oklahoma. Its operational steps are defined by the exchange's physical-delivery process; the broad location description is not a customer instruction to load, move, store, or receive crude oil.

What WTI Crude Oil futures are establishes the standard CL unit and physical-delivery designation. Cash-settled versus physically delivered futures separates a contract's delivery design from a cash-settlement design without turning either into an individual account outcome.

Physical delivery is an exchange and clearing process for a named contract month. It does not state that every long receives a load of crude or that every short personally transports oil. Account eligibility, clearing arrangements, and broker procedures all matter to an actual position, and a broker can set an earlier close, roll, or position-management deadline than the exchange's calendar entry.

The useful operational distinction is to name the exact contract, its long or short position, the exchange date, and the broker's stated rule. A price still appearing on a screen does not prove that a particular account can retain the position through the next delivery-related deadline.

An expiring CL month and a later delivery month are separate contracts with their own calendar and delivery terms. Moving exposure from one to the other requires two distinct legs: offsetting the near month and establishing the deferred month. It is not an automatic extension of the original agreement.

Futures contract roll mechanics explains why a roll changes contracts rather than erasing the lifecycle terms of the nearby month. Price differences between the two months can also reflect their different timing and market conditions; a deferred contract is not simply the same CL agreement with a later date printed on it.

For the exact CL month, record the product, delivery month-year, last trading day and time, Notice Day, delivery-period boundaries, current rulebook source, delivery-process source, and broker cutoff. How to read futures contract specifications provides a checklist for the product and final-process fields that belong with that record. Futures contract month codes explains why the delivery month and year should remain with every calendar entry, even when a provider uses a shortened symbol.

The current exchange calendar and procedures govern the exact month, especially when business days, holidays, and account deadlines are relevant. A general guide can explain the structure but cannot replace a contract-specific or broker-specific operational check. If the record is instead used for a benchmark comparison, WTI versus Brent crude oil futures keeps the two named contracts and their separate terms visible.

This guide describes standard NYMEX WTI Crude Oil futures contract mechanics. It does not state a current deadline for a particular account, direct a delivery action, recommend a position, or determine a broker's handling of a contract. The current CME rulebook, delivery procedure, market calendar, and account documents govern the exact CL month.