The WTIChart.com education library is a small, focused set of guides designed to help readers move from "I see the chart move" to "I understand why it moves." Each guide covers one part of the WTI ecosystem — the futures contract, the physical delivery hub, the basins that supply the barrels and the price history — in enough depth to be useful without drowning the reader in jargon.
The guides are written for self-directed readers: traders sizing up a futures contract for the first time, investors trying to make sense of energy ETFs, and curious students of energy markets. Nothing here is investment advice. It is general educational reference material.
Browse the guides
Cushing, Oklahoma: The WTI Oil Hub Explained
Where Cushing is, its storage capacity and current inventories (EIA), why there are so many tanks, and why weekly Cushing stocks move the WTI price.
How to Trade WTI Crude Oil: Futures, Options, ETFs and CFDs
CL, QM and Micro WTI futures, LO options, ETFs, CFDs and going short — plus margin, rollover, the reports that move WTI and risk management.
WTI Crude Oil Futures Contract Specifications
Contract sizes, tick values, CME Globex trading hours, the last-trading-day rule, delivery at Cushing and WTI options.
US Shale Oil Basins: Permian, Bakken, Eagle Ford and Beyond
EIA 2025 production by state, how shale wells work, and why the Permian and other basins matter for the WTI price.
WTI Crude Oil Price History
Annual average, high, low and year-end WTI prices since 1986, plus 2026 monthly averages.
How to use this library
If you are new to crude oil, the WTI trading guide is the most natural starting point — it covers the difference between futures, options and ETFs — with the contract specifications page as a reference. The Cushing guide then explains the physical delivery point that makes WTI distinct from waterborne benchmarks like Brent. The shale basins guide then sets the supply-side context for why US production has reshaped global oil markets over the past two decades.
For market data alongside the reading, see the live WTI charts on the home page, the latest market News, and longer-form Blog & Analysis.
Last reviewed on October 4, 2026.