One of the most attractive—yet dangerous—features of futures is leverage . An investor does not pay for 1,000 barrels upfront. Instead, they deposit a "margin" (a small fraction of the total value) to gain full price exposure.
While industrial buyers like refiners may take physical delivery, most retail and speculative traders use cash-settled contracts or close their positions before the expiration date to avoid receiving actual barrels of oil. Strategic Objectives: Hedging and Speculation buy oil futures
At its core, a long position in an oil futures contract is a binding agreement to purchase 1,000 barrels of crude oil (for standard contracts like WTI) at a set price on a designated expiration date. 000 barrels upfront. Instead
