Trade USOIL (WTI Crude Oil)

USOIL is the trading symbol used by Axi for a CFD based on West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, one of the world’s leading crude oil benchmarks. WTI is commonly used to represent the price of oil produced in the United States.

WTI is classified as a light, sweet crude oil. “Light” refers to its relatively low density, while “sweet” means it has a low sulphur content. These qualities make WTI comparatively easy to refine into products such as petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

WTI prices are quoted in US dollars per barrel, and the benchmark is closely associated with Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery location for the main WTI futures contract.

Different brokers and financial platforms may use different symbols for WTI-based instruments. Common names include:

• USOIL
• WTI Crude Oil
• US Oil
• XTI/USD

These names commonly refer to instruments based on WTI priced in US dollars, but symbols, prices and contract specifications may vary between providers.

What is an oil CFD?

An oil CFD, or contract for difference, allows traders to speculate on changes in the price of crude oil without purchasing, storing or taking delivery of the physical commodity.

The result of a USOIL CFD trade is the difference between the opening and closing prices.

Traders can:

• Buy or go long if they expect the price of WTI to rise.
• Sell or go short if they expect the price of WTI to fall.

CFDs are leveraged products, meaning traders can open a position by depositing a percentage of its total value as margin. Leverage can increase potential returns, but it also magnifies losses.

Oil CFDs may also involve costs such as the spread and overnight financing.

Although oil CFDs are often available on the same platforms as forex CFDs, USOIL is a commodity CFD rather than a forex currency pair.