NYMEX
Crude Oil (WTI) (CL) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $10.00 per tick — 1,000 barrels of WTI crude oil.
WTI Crude Oil futures (CL) are the benchmark energy contract in the Americas: one contract covers 1,000 barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude, priced in dollars per barrel. The minimum tick is $0.01 per barrel, worth $10 per contract — so every one-dollar move in the oil price swings a single contract by $1,000. With crude at $75, notional exposure is $75,000 per contract.
Crude's personality is event-driven. Weekly EIA inventory reports, OPEC+ decisions and geopolitical headlines can move the price several dollars in minutes, which at $1,000 per dollar per contract demands disciplined sizing. CL is also a physically delivered contract, so margins tighten and open interest rolls to the next month as expiry approaches — retail traders exit or roll well before delivery. If full-size crude risk is too coarse, the Micro (MCL) offers one-tenth the barrels. The calculator below converts price moves into dollars using CL's exact specs.
- Exchange
- NYMEX
- Contract size
- 1,000 barrels of WTI crude oil
- Tick size
- 0.01
- Tick value
- $10.00
- Point value (multiplier)
- $1000
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET
- Margin
- Margin varies by broker and is typically higher around expiry due to physical delivery risk.
How CL tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For CL, that is 0.01 × $1000 = $10.00 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents 1,000 barrels of WTI crude oil. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
CL contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. CLZ2026 is the December 2026 CL contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for CL? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | Yes — CLF |
| G | February | Yes — CLG |
| H | March | Yes — CLH |
| J | April | Yes — CLJ |
| K | May | Yes — CLK |
| M | June | Yes — CLM |
| N | July | Yes — CLN |
| Q | August | Yes — CLQ |
| U | September | Yes — CLU |
| V | October | Yes — CLV |
| X | November | Yes — CLX |
| Z | December | Yes — CLZ |
Which CL contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| CL1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. CLZ2026. |
| CL00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "CLZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| CLc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /CL | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /CLZ26. |
| CL=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $CL | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as CLZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for CL?
- $10.00 per tick — a 0.01 tick size × a $1000 multiplier (point value).
- What is one CL contract worth?
- One contract represents 1,000 barrels of WTI crude oil. Notional value = price × $1000; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists CL?
- Crude Oil (WTI) (CL) trades on the NYMEX.
- What are the trading hours for CL?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade CL?
- Margin varies by broker and is typically higher around expiry due to physical delivery risk.
- What are the CL contract months?
- CL lists January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December.
- What does CLZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific CL contract: the root CL, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so CLZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is CL00, CL1! or /CL?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month CL contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses CL00, TradingView CL1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /CL, Yahoo Finance CL=F, and CL on social media is usually written $CL. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for CL?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.01 tick size × $10.00 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- MCL — Micro WTI Crude OilTick value $1.00 · NYMEX
- NG — Natural GasTick value $10.00 · NYMEX
- RB — RBOB GasolineTick value $4.20 · NYMEX
- HO — NY Harbor ULSDTick value $4.20 · NYMEX
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-06. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.