How to Trade Crude Oil on MCX

To trade crude oil futures on MCX, identify the expiry and contract size, check current margin with your broker, and calculate the rupee effect of a price move before placing an order. Standard CRUDEOIL represents 100 barrels; CRUDEOILM represents 10 barrels. Both quote in rupees per barrel and settle in cash under the cited specifications. The margin posted is a deposit, while the full contract size determines the price exposure.

Standard and Mini have different rupee exposure

A tick is the minimum quoted price change. Its financial value equals that price change multiplied by the contract’s barrel quantity. A similar-looking chart therefore produces different money results for the standard and Mini contracts.

The Mini’s smaller quantity does not make the trade inherently suitable or safe. Actual exposure also depends on the number of contracts. Adding more Mini contracts increases the quantity again, while the gap between buying and selling quotes and the prices actually traded can differ between the order books.

How to start trading crude oil on MCX, step by step

This is a general process and not a recommendation to trade. Crude futures can move fast, and a loss can be larger than the deposit you put up.

• Open or extend your account. Ask your broker to activate the commodity segment. Many brokers treat it as a separate permission from equity and F&O, and may ask for extra documents.
• Choose the contract. CRUDEOIL covers 100 barrels and CRUDEOILM (Mini) covers 10 barrels. Pick the expiry from the exchange's contract list. The nearest expiry is usually the most traded, but check it yourself.
• Write the plan first. Note the entry idea, the exit if you are wrong and the number of contracts. Work out the rupee loss at your exit before you place the order.
• Check margin and charges. Use your broker's order preview for the exact contract and quantity. Add the brokerage and taxes to your estimate.
• Place the order. Check which order types your broker allows, and the quantity shown in contracts, not barrels.
• Plan the exit before expiry. Decide whether you will close the position, or roll it to the next expiry, which means closing one contract and opening another at separate prices and costs.
• Record the trade. Save the contract, fills, charges and what you felt, in your journal.

The commodity trading guide for beginners explains the wider market, and the commodity trading journal guide shows what to record.

Worked example: separate contract value from profit

Consider a fictional purchase of a Mini futures contract at ₹6,300 per barrel, followed by a sale at ₹6,420 per barrel. Its 10-barrel quantity gives a notional value, meaning full exposure, of ₹63,000 at entry.

• Price change: ₹6,420 − ₹6,300 = ₹120 per barrel.
• Gross Mini profit: ₹120 × 10 = ₹1,200.
• For a standard 100-barrel contract, the same assumed price change would give ₹12,000 of gross profit.

Those are gross figures before brokerage and applicable charges. The example is not a prediction of a move after an inventory report, supply announcement or chart pattern. The same quantity also multiplies an adverse move.

Use the selected contract’s own prices and quantity when assessing slippage, the difference from a reference price. A global oil quote and an MCX execution are different observations.

What a crude oil trade costs: CTT, exchange fee, brokerage and GST

A crude oil futures trade has several charges besides the price move. The repo's charge records and the MCX circular they cite give these rates for MCX futures, checked 28 Oct 2026: commodities transaction tax (CTT) of 0.01% on the sell side, an MCX transaction charge of 0.0021% on each side, the SEBI fee of ₹10 per crore, stamp duty of 0.002% on the buy side, and 18% GST on brokerage, exchange charges and the SEBI fee. Brokerage varies by broker.

Here is the Mini example from above with an assumed brokerage of ₹20 per executed order (made up). Buy 10 barrels at ₹6,300 for ₹63,000 and sell at ₹6,420 for ₹64,200.

• Brokerage: 2 orders × ₹20 = ₹40.
• CTT: ₹64,200 × 0.01% = ₹6.42.
• MCX charge: (₹63,000 + ₹64,200) × 0.0021% = ₹2.67.
• SEBI fee: ₹1,27,200 × ₹10 ÷ ₹1,00,00,000 = about ₹0.13.
• Stamp duty on the buy side: ₹63,000 × 0.002% = ₹1.26.
• GST: (₹40 + ₹2.67 + ₹0.13) × 18% = about ₹7.70.
• Total costs: about ₹58.18, so net profit is about ₹1,200 - ₹58.18 = ₹1,141.82.

The numbers are for a made-up trade. The sum is only an estimate, and the contract note rounds each line. Use the MCX trading cost calculator and the MCX brokerage comparison for more.

A planned stop is an assumption about execution

Keep the fictional Mini entry at ₹6,300 and suppose the plan uses ₹6,240 as the exit. The planned price loss is ₹600. If the actual exit occurs at an assumed ₹6,150 instead, the loss becomes ₹1,500 before costs.

The example separates intended risk from realised risk. A triggered order can execute at a worse price, and a limit can leave quantity unfilled. Check which order types your broker permits in the selected contract. Do not call the planned stop amount a guaranteed maximum loss.

A futures loss can also require cash while the position remains open. A small initial deposit should never be confused with the entire amount that can be lost. Daily settlement, changed margin and forced closeout are separate account events to understand.

Current margin needs the current clearing requirement

MCX’s contract specifications refer readers to later exchange and clearing circulars for applicable margins. They also allow extra requirements during volatility. The base figures printed in an older PDF cannot establish the final requirement for a trade today.

Check the order preview for the exact expiry, side, quantity and any related positions. Then check the broker’s policy on additional cash and closeouts. An old margin range can miss a later change in the required deposit.

For a comparison of margin and trading exposure, see F&O margin requirements. For a deliverable commodity with different expiry obligations, read MCX silver contracts.

How much money do you need to trade crude oil?

There is no fixed amount. The deposit is a percentage of the contract value, and it can change. NSE Clearing's circular of 14 May 2026 set a 30% minimum initial margin for all crude oil variants from 18 May 2026, and a news summary reports that MCX Clearing issued a matching notice. NSE's September 2026 framework circular keeps 30% from 1 October 2026. We could not open MCX Clearing's own text, so confirm the figure with your broker. This is a floor and not the all-in requirement. Brokers and exchanges can ask for more, such as extra margin in volatile periods.

A made-up example: if the Mini contract is valued at ₹63,000, a 30% floor is ₹18,900. The real amount for your order will be shown in your broker's order preview, and you also need spare cash for daily losses. Do not treat the margin as the most you can lose.

Expiry uses a settlement rule, not your last screen quote

The cited MCX crude contracts settle in cash. Their final settlement rate uses the NYMEX front-month (nearest-expiry) crude-oil settlement price on the MCX contract’s last trading day, converted with the last available RBI USD/INR reference rate and rounded to the nearest tick.

For a purely illustrative conversion, assume a benchmark of $80 per barrel and a reference rate of ₹90 per dollar. Multiplication gives ₹7,200 per barrel. That demonstrates the units only; it is not a live MCX quote or an assurance that both markets can be traded at those values.

Before expiry, the MCX traded price is set by available orders and can differ from a simplified converted reference. For the actual final settlement, the specified reference, dates and rounding matter. Do not substitute an arbitrary dollar quote or a personal currency-conversion rate.

Use the exchange’s contract launch calendar for the exact last trading day. A rough mid-month rule is insufficient. If you roll a position, you close the old expiry and open a new one, creating separate prices and costs.

MCX crude oil trading hours

MCX non-agri contracts, including crude oil, open at 9:00 am on weekdays. The closing time changes with the season. It was 11:30 pm up to 30 October 2026. From 2 November 2026 the non-agri close moves to 11:55 pm until 12 March 2027, according to NSE's commodity circular NSE/COM/76446 and Zerodha's bulletin of 30 September 2026 that reports MCX circular 550/2026. We could not open MCX's own copy. Agricultural hours do not change.

Holidays and special sessions can change the schedule. A broker may also square off intraday positions earlier than the exchange closes, so check your broker's rule. See the commodity market timings guide for the current picture.

EIA releases: use the date-specific schedule

The US Energy Information Administration lists a standard Weekly Petroleum Status Report release at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, with exceptions. Check its official schedule for the actual date and convert the displayed time for that date. A remembered Indian clock time can be wrong.

An inventory change alone does not dictate the next price move. The result can interact with expectations, demand, product inventories, supply developments and positioning. MCX identifies several market drivers; it does not establish a guaranteed price jump for any release.

The MCX session close and the EIA release are also different clocks. Check seasonal exchange notices and holidays separately from the US data calendar. A broker’s intraday closing rule can be earlier than the exchange close.

What moves crude oil prices

Crude is priced globally, and MCX prices follow global prices converted into rupees. Common drivers include:

• Supply decisions. Production choices by OPEC and its partners, and output from other producers such as the United States.
• Demand. Economic growth, travel and industry use, especially in large economies.
• Inventory data. Weekly US stock changes from the EIA, as described above.
• The dollar and the rupee. Oil is priced in dollars, so a stronger dollar can lift the rupee price even if the dollar price is unchanged.
• Geopolitics. Conflict or sanctions in producing regions can disrupt supply or raise fears about it.
• Positioning. When many traders hold the same view, a surprise can move prices sharply.

These factors interact, and none gives a reliable signal alone. Write down the reason you are trading, and judge it later against the actual outcome.

An order-ticket checklist for crude futures

• Confirm MCX commodity access and the correct futures symbol.
• Check the actual expiry and total barrel quantity.
• Read current margin and any broker restrictions.
• Write the intended entry, invalidation and exposure before submitting an order.
• Check buying quotes, selling quotes and available quantity; a quote may change before execution.
• Confirm what traded, what remains open and how the account will meet settlement obligations.

Record the contract and actual executions separately from the trade idea in your manual journal. A position-size calculation can translate an assumed stop distance into planned exposure; the completed trade record shows how closely execution matched that assumption.

Crude oil options on MCX

MCX also lists options on crude oil futures, and it launched options on Crude Oil Mini futures in April 2024. An option on a futures contract has a premium that depends on the futures price, the strike, the time left and expected volatility. A buyer's maximum loss is the premium paid. A seller can lose much more, and has to meet margin.

The Mini options specification published by MCX gives European-style exercise, which means exercise only at expiry, with the last trading day two business days before the underlying futures expiry. Check the contract specification for each option you consider, including its strike spacing, tick size and what happens at expiry. Do not copy a futures plan into an options trade. For the effect of volatility on premiums, see the volatility glossary entry.

Crude oil trading questions

Sources

• MCX: standard crude futures specification; Mini futures specification (opened 16 October 2026).
• MCX: crude product information (checked 16 October 2026).
• EIA: petroleum-report release calendar (opened 16 October 2026).