WTI Crude Oil (CL) December (Z) 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 December crude contract 2010–2025, measured over its tenure as the lead contract · Typically leads Oct 18 – Nov 16
The December contract carries the worst average on the CL board, a 3.0% mean loss across a 7 and 9 record, and it earned it honestly: nine losing tenures, five of them dropping 8% or more. It leads from mid-October to mid-November, the heart of crude’s weakest calendar stretch, and its file reads like the autumn fade given a name.
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.