Crude oil options are the busiest commodity options in India, and reading their chain works much like reading NIFTY’s, with three differences that catch people out: the underlying is a futures contract rather than spot, open interest is counted in lots, and most of the trading happens in the evening. This guide explains how MCX crude oil options are built, what each part of the chain tells you, and how to read open interest, the put-call ratio and max pain on a real chain: the November 2026 series on the evening of 27 October.
How MCX crude oil options are built
MCX lists two crude oil option contracts:
- CRUDEOIL: 100 barrels a lot, quoted in rupees per barrel. A ₹1 move in the premium is ₹100 a lot.
- CRUDEOILM, the mini: 10 barrels a lot, quoted the same way. A ₹1 move is ₹10 a lot.
Both are options on futures. Each monthly series is written on that month’s crude oil future and expires a couple of days before it: the 17 November 2026 options sit on the November future, which expires on 19 November. An option that finishes in the money does not settle in cash; it turns into a position in that future (how options on futures work). That is why the middle of a crude oil chain shows the future’s price, marked Fut, where a NIFTY chain shows spot.
The two contracts trade separately and keep separate open interest, so each has its own chain. A strike means the same price on both, because both quote per barrel.
Open interest in lots, and the change since yesterday
Open interest on MCX is reported in lots, not in units. A crude oil chain showing 4,580 at a strike means 4,580 lots of 100 barrels each, and there is no quantity view to switch to (lot size and open interest in lots). Compare strikes with each other, and compare CRUDEOIL with CRUDEOILM only after allowing for the tenfold difference in size.
The change column is measured from the previous session’s close, which on MCX came at 23:30 or 23:55 the night before. A large positive change at a call above the future means fresh call writing there; a large positive change at a put below it means fresh put writing. The convention in reading open interest is that the writers’ side marks the levels, because writers hold the positions that have to be defended (what call and put writers’ open interest tells you).
Reading crude oil options on a real chain
The chain above is the November series at 21:33 on Tuesday 27 October 2026, with the November future near 9,530. Read it from the top:
- Put-call ratio 1.24. Put open interest across the chain, about 68,200 lots, outweighed call open interest, about 55,100. A ratio above 1 means more puts than calls are open; on its own it says little about direction (how to read the put-call ratio).
- Support 9,000, resistance 9,600. These are the strikes with the most put and the most call open interest: the floor and the ceiling option writers have committed to. The future sat between them, closer to the ceiling.
- Max pain 9,500. The settlement level at which option buyers as a whole would collect least, just below the future (max pain theory).
- Where the day’s positions went. The biggest additions since the previous close were on the calls just above the future: about 2,650 lots of fresh open interest at 9,600 and 2,142 at 9,700, while the puts near the money added far less. Call writers had been adding above the future through the day.
- Implied volatility around 55%. Crude oil options price far more volatility than index options: the at-the-money options sat near 55 to 57% IV, about four times NIFTY’s at-the-money IV of roughly 14% that day.
None of this is a forecast. It is where positions sat and where they were being added, which is the starting point for judging what the market has already priced.
What moves crude oil options
MCX crude follows the international crude benchmark, priced in dollars and converted at the rupee rate, so a move in either shows up in the premiums. The scheduled events are weekly: the US crude inventory report on Wednesday evenings India time (the weekly petroleum status report), and the production decisions of OPEC+. Both land after the equity market has closed, which is why the crude oil chain often moves most between 18:00 and MCX’s close.
High implied volatility means crude oil options carry large premiums for their distance from the money, and those premiums shrink fast when an expected event passes without a surprise (IV crush after big events).
The last days of a crude oil series
Because in-the-money options turn into futures positions, the final days of a series differ from an index expiry. A futures position needs futures margin, so margins rise as expiry nears, and many brokers close or restrict open in-the-money positions on the evening before expiry; check your own broker’s notice for each expiry. Open interest usually falls through those last sessions as positions roll to the next month, and the chain for the next series, written on the next month’s future, becomes the one to read.
Crude oil options on OIData
OIData shows both crude oil chains through your own broker connection, minute by minute from 09:00 to MCX’s close. The option chain marks max pain, support and resistance and the day’s change at every strike, and its Replay rewinds any recorded session. Trending OI follows call and put open interest interval by interval from the 09:00 open. Dealer Positioning turns the same open interest into rupees of hedging pressure: at 20:45 on 27 October 2026 the November series’ net gamma was about −₹37 crore, with its put wall at 9,000 and its call wall at 9,600. Options Activity flags strikes whose five-minute volume suddenly runs far above its usual pace, and alerts can watch crude oil for PCR crossings, OI spikes and wall moves through the evening.
Crude oil options FAQ
What is the lot size of crude oil options on MCX? 100 barrels for CRUDEOIL and 10 barrels for CRUDEOILM, both quoted in rupees per barrel.
When do MCX crude oil options expire? Monthly, a couple of days before the future they are written on: the November 2026 options on 17 November, the November future on 19 November.
What happens to an in-the-money crude oil option at expiry? It turns into a position in the crude oil future it is written on instead of settling in cash, so it needs futures margin.
Why is crude oil open interest shown in lots? MCX reports open interest and volume in lots. A figure of 4,580 at a strike is 4,580 lots of 100 barrels.
When are crude oil options most active? Usually in the Indian evening, when US markets are open and the weekly inventory figures and OPEC+ news arrive.
Takeaways
- Crude oil options on MCX are options on the crude oil future; the chain’s Fut line is that future.
- CRUDEOIL is 100 barrels and CRUDEOILM 10; both quote per barrel and keep separate open interest.
- Open interest is in lots, and the day’s change is measured from the previous night’s close.
- Read the walls, max pain and the day’s additions together; the put-call ratio alone says little.
- Crude oil options price high volatility, and the evening carries most of the news.