Crude oil futures are the most important oil futures. At present, there are four important crude oil futures contracts in the world: NYMEX's light and low sulfur crude oil West Texas Intermediate, London International Petroleum Exchange (IPE)' s Brent, Singapore Exchange (SGX)' s Dubai sour crude oil.

Futures trading is a centralized trading form of standardized forward contracts. That is, buyers and sellers buy and sell futures contracts in the futures exchange, and agree to buy and sell a certain quantity and quality of goods at a certain price at a certain time and place in the future according to the terms stipulated in the contract. The ultimate goal of futures trading is not the transfer of commodity ownership, but to avoid spot price risk by buying and selling futures contracts. Compared with the spot, futures are characterized by:

1. A futures contract is a contract concluded by an exchange and traded on a futures exchange;

2. Futures contracts are standardized contracts;

3. Low physical delivery rate;

4. Futures trading shall be subject to a margin system, with a margin of 3%-15%;

5. The futures exchange provides settlement and delivery services and performance guarantees for both parties to the transaction, and implements a strict settlement and delivery system, with little risk of default. With the spot crude oil entering China, there are few futures companies, mainly because there are too many restrictions on futures trading. Spot is relatively flexible. Of course, there is no best investment, only the investment that suits you best.