Oil trading hours: when to trade crude oil

Oil trading hours on IG

With us, oil can be traded on spot prices, futures contracts and options across nearly all hours of the trading week. Here is a full breakdown of the available sessions:

These hours apply to our spread betting and CFD products. Underlying exchange hours for WTI are based on the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange), which operates on Central Time. For Brent crude, the primary exchange is ICE Futures Europe in London. 

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with us. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Oil markets: key facts

When is the best time to trade crude oil?

Oil is a genuinely global market, with price discovery happening across multiple sessions. But not all hours are equal. Understanding when activity is highest helps traders manage spread costs, execution quality and the risk of sharp moves in low-liquidity periods.

1. The US session overlap: 1pm to 6:30pm UK time

This is consistently the highest-liquidity window for WTI crude. The NYMEX opens at 9:00am ET (2pm UK time in winter, 1pm in summer BST), which brings the largest volume of institutional and commercial participants into the market. The window between 1pm and 6:30pm UK time typically sees the tightest spreads, the most active order flow, and the most significant intraday price moves.

US crude oil inventory data from the EIA (Energy Information Administration) is typically released on Wednesdays at 10:30am ET (3:30pm UK time). These releases are among the most closely watched scheduled events in the oil market and frequently trigger sharp moves during this window.

2. The European open: 8am to 10am UK time

The European session brings Brent crude into focus. London is the centre of global oil trading, and the opening hours of the ICE Futures Europe exchange tend to see increased activity in Brent. European traders are reacting to overnight developments in Asia and positioning ahead of US inventory and economic data later in the day. For Brent traders in particular, the European open is the most reliable high-liquidity period outside the US session.

3. Overnight and Asian hours

Activity in oil markets during Asian hours is lower than during the European and US sessions, but not negligible. Japanese economic data, Chinese demand signals and geopolitical developments in the Middle East can move oil prices significantly during overnight sessions. For UK traders who cannot monitor positions overnight, stop-loss orders are particularly important during these periods, as gaps can open between price levels when news breaks outside US and European hours. Silver trading hours follow a similar pattern of session-driven liquidity that applies across most commodity markets.

4. Around scheduled events

Beyond regular session timing, the most volatile periods for oil are around scheduled releases: the weekly EIA crude inventory report (Wednesday, 3:30pm UK time), the monthly OPEC+ meetings when production quotas are adjusted, and US employment and inflation data that affects dollar strength and by extension oil pricing. Gold futures and oil often respond similarly to dollar-driving macro events, making the COMEX gold session another useful reference point for timing commodity trades.

What drives oil prices?

Understanding the forces that move oil prices is as important as understanding when markets are open. Oil prices are influenced by a complex mix of supply, demand and financial market dynamics:

The FTSE 100 is also relevant context for oil traders: approximately 15% of the index's market capitalisation is in energy companies including BP and Shell. A significant move in crude oil prices will typically feed through to FTSE energy stocks and, to a lesser extent, the index itself.

Oil trading hours FAQs