With Volatility Comes Opportunity: Start Trading Oil in 2015

As the New Year is welcomed the brutal hit oil received over the past 6 months has not been forgotten. Today a barrel of WTI crude oil sells foraround 52 USD compared to hovering around, what can now be called, a stable 105 USD just 6 months ago. Looking backat the years from 2011 to June 2014 anything bouncing around the 100 USD mark seemed rational.

While oil has suffered momentous lows in the past 6 months it has conquered the financial news channels and does not seem to be leaving our screens as commodity traders welcome the first week of 2015 with anticipation.

Crude oil prices have fallen dramatically over the past few months with prices having dropped by half for the first time in over five years. Crude oil may continue to drop as investors are highly concerned about the slowdown in global economic growth and that OPEC is unlikely to reduce supply.

What is next for Oil?

Oil prices have plummeted since OPEC decided to keep its production ceiling unchanged on 27th November 2014 with the downtrend accelerating at an incredible rate since then. Market consensus is identifying a close above 64.25 USD before any trend reversal and price recovery is considered to take place.

Director at ICM Capital, Shoaib Abedi, said “Whether it is oversupply from the U.S., the world’s largest shale oil producer, decreased demand from large oil consuming countries, or OPEC's controversial decision to keep its production ceiling unchanged to preserve market share, nobody can deny that the recent volatility in oil does present investors with excellent trading opportunities.”

He continued to say that “We have witnessed an increase in oil trades from our clients and as we offer a 3 cent fixed spread on WTI and Brent Crude oil contracts as well as cash rebates on every trade closed before the end of this month, it is ideal for traders to take advantage of the price action the energy market is currently presenting.”

The answer to the question in which direction crude oil will be heading in the short to medium term remains uncertain. Traders who are keen to start taking advantage of these trading opportunities and price fluctuations in both rising and falling market prices can now register for a live trading account to trade WTI and Brent Crude Oil contracts on ICM Capital’s MetaTrader 4 trading platform.