Guide · 3 min read

Oil trading hours: when WTI and Brent are open and when they move

Short answer: Oil trades most of the day on weekdays, with a short break each day and a closed weekend. The two benchmarks, WTI and Brent, share the pattern, and a broker's oil CFD sets its own hours on top. The busiest moments are scheduled: the weekly US inventory report and the open of the US session. Read your broker's hours in MetaTrader 5 before you trade, because they decide when your stop can fill.

Published: 24 October 2026.

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1. Two benchmarks

WTI is the US benchmark and Brent is the international one. Most brokers show each as its own symbol, and the names differ, so read the contract specification before you add a chart. Our markets pages show how far oil and Brent usually move.

2. The daily break and the weekend

Oil futures run for most of the day, Monday to Friday, with a short pause each day for settlement, and they close over the weekend. A broker's oil CFD follows that pattern but may open and close at its own times, and the platform clock may not be your own. The specification lists the sessions in the broker's time zone. The same idea applies to gold, covered in gold trading hours and gold futures market hours.

3. What moves oil on a schedule

The weekly US crude inventory report, normally on Wednesday. A number far from what traders expected can move the price fast.
OPEC meetings and statements about supply.
The open of the US session, when volume rises.
Broader news, such as interest rates and the dollar, that moves many markets at once. Use an economic calendar.

4. Quiet hours and gaps

Outside the busy hours the spread can widen and a few orders can move the price. After the daily break or the weekend, the first price can gap away from the last. A stop is an order to close at the next price available, so a gap can fill it worse than you set it. Gold spread explained covers the cost of a wide spread, and it is the same arithmetic on oil.

5. How to use the hours

Check the specification, mark the break and the weekly report in your calendar, and size each trade from the stop, as in how to calculate lot size. If you want a rule that depends on the hour, backtest it with costs first. We have not tested any oil rule, and no BaroqTech strategy has passed our judge yet, so this page explains the hours and promises nothing. For how oil can feed into gold, read gold and oil.

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FAQ

Is oil open all day?

Oil futures trade most of the day on weekdays with a short daily break, and close for the weekend. A broker's oil CFD follows the futures but sets its own hours, so read them in the contract specification.

What is the difference between WTI and Brent?

WTI is the US benchmark and Brent is the international one. They usually move together, but the gap between them changes, and each has its own symbol and contract at your broker.

When does oil move most?

Around scheduled news, such as the weekly US crude inventory report, and around OPEC meetings, as well as at the open of the US session when volume is high. Quiet hours can have wide spreads.

What is the weekly oil inventory report?

It is the US government's weekly count of crude oil stocks, normally published on Wednesday. A number far from what traders expect can move the price within seconds.

Why does my broker's oil have a daily break?

Futures exchanges pause trading for a short time each day for settlement, and broker CFDs follow the pause. Orders and stops cannot fill during it, and the first prices after it can gap.

Do I need to close oil trades before the weekend?

No rule says so, but the market can open on Monday away from Friday's close, so a stop may fill worse than you set it. Many traders cut size or close before the break.

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An educational tool. It is not investment advice. Trading leveraged products such as gold CFDs carries a high risk of losing money, and you can lose all of it.

BaroqTech makes software. It is not investment advice and it does not manage money. Trading leveraged products such as oil CFDs carries a high risk of losing money, and you can lose all of it. Results from a test or from a demo account do not predict results on a real account.

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Oil trading hours: when WTI and Brent are open and when they move

1. Two benchmarks

2. The daily break and the weekend

3. What moves oil on a schedule

4. Quiet hours and gaps

5. How to use the hours

FAQ

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