WTI Crude Oil (CL) July (N) contract study: year-by-year results, the day-by-day shape of the move and where highs and lows printed.
Contract Almanac · WTI Crude Oil
Every July crude contract 2011–2026, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads May 18 – Jun 17
The July contract is the strongest trender on the CL board and one of its weakest hands. It has finished higher in only 6 of 16 tenures with a −3.0% median, yet its average sits near flat because a single year, the 2020 rebound, gained 48.4%. Whatever direction this contract picks, it keeps: the defining extreme printed in the final five sessions in 11 of 16 years, the highest count of any month.
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. Tenure lengths vary by a few trading days from year to year, so day counts differ slightly at the tail. All highs and lows are the contract’s own trades, marked by trading day of the tenure, not calendar day.