Brent Crude Oil (BZ) August (Q) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · Brent Crude
Every clean August Brent contract 2015–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads May 28 – Jun 25
The August contract leads from late May through late June, peak driving season with the summer premium at its fullest, and its file leans the way full premiums lean: 5 up, 7 down, with a −1.9% median. This year it wrote its worst chapter yet, a 22.3% slide as June’s slate broke lower, the deepest tenure in the file.
Each year is one contract, measured from the open of the day it took over the lead to the close of the day it handed off, the same roll convention used across all Traders Brief research. One honesty note specific to Brent: the contract’s early CME-era history contains roll irregularities, and those irregular tenures are excluded, leaving 11 to 14 clean observations per month rather than the full 16 available elsewhere. The counts shown are the cleaned record. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.