6 Tips to Trade Crude Oil Futures in 2026

Traders love volatility and liquidity, and there are a few assets more volatile and liquid than crude oil futures.

However, if you want to trade crude oil futures, you must learn how to handle volatility such that it becomes an opportunity rather than a weapon of mass destruction. 

In what follows, we consider 6 tips that can help you become a better crude oil futures trader in 2026.  

Don’t ignore fundamental analysis

Since crude oil is a vital asset to the global economy, relying solely on technical charts is insufficient. 

Factors such as OPEC announcements, weekly EIA inventory reports, and macroeconomic data releases all drive the crude oil price. 

As a trader, you need to understand how each factor affects the crude oil price and how you can position yourself to benefit from them. 

For example, when OPEC reduces supply, the crude oil price will rise as long as demand does not fall. Also, when they increase supply, the crude oil price will fall as long as demand does not rise. 

Don’t ignore technical analysis

Nevertheless, technical analysis still matters. 

If you are a trader who wants to profit from short-term fluctuations in the market, you need to understand price charts, volume charts, and some of the most relevant technical indicators. 

Technical analysis will help you understand market trends so you can predict future movements. 

If you trade regularly, you will find more opportunities to make money when you understand how to predict price movements instead of only waiting for fundamentals to move the market in a big way. 

Have a strategy

Trading without a strategy is like visiting a new city without a map. The probability that you would get lost is high. 

There are different crude oil futures strategies you can explore: arbitrage trading, mean reversion trading, news trading, trend trading, order flow approach, and short-term catalytic approaches, among others. 

Each strategy has its own structure and best practices. The best way to familiarize yourself with them is to backtest the strategy. You can start using it once you are confident that it gives you the desired winning rate. 

It’s also important to stick to your chosen strategy. Strategy-hopping, especially when your chosen strategy still works well, can cause you to lose money unnecessarily.    

Prioritize risk management

No strategy is perfect. Even the best strategy will result in losing trades. 

As they say, the important thing is to win more times than you lose and for a win to give you more money than a loss takes away.  

Two people with the same strategy can have widely differing results if one embraces sound risk management and the other does not. 

Sound risk management includes: 

• Position sizing: Limiting your position on a trade to the amount you are willing to lose. 
• Stop loss orders: Cutting short your losses so you don’t lose more than you are comfortable with. 
• Take profit orders: Taking profits at your desired risk-reward ratio instead of having the market turn against you while waiting to maximize profits.

Focus on periods of higher volatility and liquidity

Volatility and liquidity can be the friend of the smart trader. 

Instead of running away from them, you can master them for your benefit. 

For example, the US session (9 am to 2:30 pm Eastern Time) and the European session (8 am to 5 pm Central European Time) often offer the most liquidity and volatility.

Similarly, you can optimize for the weekly EIA inventory reports as market activities often heighten in response to them. 

Choose the right broker

Even with the best trading and risk management strategy, you still need a good broker that will support your trading goals. 

A good broker will provide value for money (rather than just being the cheapest) and offer customer support, fast trade execution, technical tools, and an easy-to-use platform, among others.

If you are in the UAE, you can trade crude oil futures through CFDs with Daman Markets.  They provide advanced charting tools, market news and commentary, fast execution, and personalized support. 

With over 25 years of experience in the local UAE market, they have all you need to succeed as a crude oil futures trader in the UAE.