Oil Carry Harvester

Oil Carry Harvester

The price of this EA increases on every calendar day on which a purchase is made. This means every buyer automatically locks in a lower price than all future buyers who purchase after a price increase day. There is no coupon, no expiry, and no action required. Your purchase price is your permanent entry point into the product.All future updates included. 

This EA is for large Accounts > e.g. 30 k$ only if your minimum trading volume equals 50 barrels per trade as with IC Markets.

Brokers such as Darwinex and Admirals allow smaller minimum trading volume starting with 10 barrels per trade (thus reducing the recommended minimum account size with those brokers down to about 6 k$).
Example of max. Risk at IC Markets of a Minlot per price level (Anchor Price = 90 $/barrel, Grid Step = 10$, Max Grid Level = 5) in case WTI falls to 0 $/barrel:

• 0.5 lot x 100 barrel/lot x ca. 90 $/barrel = 4 500 $ Risk  
• 0.5 lot x 100 barrel/lot x ca. 80 $/barrel = 4 000 $ Risk  
  
• 0.5 lot x 100 barrel/lot x ca. 70 $/barrel = 3 500 $ Risk
• 0.5 lot x 100 barrel/lot x ca. 60 $/barrel = 3 000 $ Risk
• 0.5 lot x 100 barrel/lot x ca. 50 $/barrel = 2 500 $ Risk
• Total worst case grid risk of this example (at WTI = 0 $/barrel) = 17 500 $ Risk (not considering any swap harvest)

Most oil EAs try to predict price. Oil Carry Harvester doesn't. The edge is carry.

WTI crude oil long positions in backwardation markets generate positive overnight swap income, currently up to 40% CAGR on nominal exposure at select brokers. This EA maintains continuous long grid exposure on XTIUSD, harvests that swap every night, and recycles capital through systematic take-profit hits as oil oscillates. Price direction is a bonus. Carry is the engine.

The full cycle logic

Backwardation exists because the market expects lower oil prices ahead. That forward expectation is exactly what creates the positive carry for long holders. Oil Carry Harvester embraces this dynamic rather than fighting it: as price drifts lower, the grid fills additional levels, building position size and collecting more swap income every night. The deeper the market goes, the more carry is harvested per day.

When sentiment eventually shifts and the futures curve moves from backwardation into contango, it signals that the market expects prices to rise again. That expectation tends to coincide with actual price recovery. As WTI climbs back through the grid, each level exits via its take-profit, systematically scaling out the accumulated positions and converting unrealized exposure into realized profit. The grid restocks itself below market as positions close, ready for the next cycle.

The result: you get paid to accumulate on the way down, and you get paid again as the market recovers. The worst-case scenario in this framework is not a declining price. It is a permanent, structural decline that never reverses. That tail risk is real and is disclosed above. For everything short of that, the carry and the grid work together.

How it works

A ladder of buy-limit orders is placed e.g. every $5 below the anchor price. Each filled position holds until TP (entry + e.g.$5 grid step), then the level rebuilds automatically below market. The grid runs on a configurable timer (1 min to 4H), not on every tick, resulting in near-zero CPU load and fast, reliable backtests. Lot size scales proportionally with account balance via optional auto-scaling.

Backtest results: 8.4 years (Jan 2018 – May 2026) -> Find Set File in Comments Tab

• Initial deposit: $40,000
• Total net profit: +$169,004 (+423%)
• CAGR: 21.7% | Swap-only CAGR: 17.3%
• Swap income: $113,159 (67% of total P&L)
• Grid TP profits: $55,845 (33% of total P&L)
• Max balance drawdown: 0.52%
• Max equity drawdown: 30.9% (COVID crash 2020, fully recovered)

The COVID stress test

In March/April 2020, WTI spot fell to $17. All 12 grid levels filled from $95 down to $40. Equity drawdown peaked at 30.9%, entirely unrealized, no stops triggered. The EA continued collecting swap daily throughout the crash. Net balance result for 2020: +$3,103. When oil recovered, 2021 became the strongest year in the backtest: +$29,027.

This is what carry strategies do that momentum strategies cannot: they pay you to hold through drawdown.

Broker requirements

Oil Carry Harvester requires a broker offering positive long swap on XTIUSD (WTI crude oil CFD). The carry edge depends on WTI futures market backwardation, so verify your broker's current WTI long swap rate before deploying. Tested and optimized on IC Markets, Raw Spread account, XTIUSD. 

Not all brokers offer positive WTI long swap. Check yours first.

Key features

• Long-only grid strategy, buy-limits only, no market orders
• Fixed grid step
• Configurable check interval (1 min to 4H), timer-driven, not tick-driven
• Auto-scaling lot size proportional to account balance
• Instant grid rebuild on TP 
• Symbol override for brokers using non-standard oil naming (USOIL, OIL.cash, XTIUSD etc.)
• Built-in dashboard showing open positions, accumulated swap, floating P&L, grid status
• Magic number isolation, runs safely alongside other EAs
• MT5 only

Risk disclosure

Grid strategies accumulate multiple open positions. Maximum drawdown in the 8-year backtest was >17,000 USD during the COVID-19 oil crash. If WTI undergoes a structural long-term decline below the grid floor, open positions may remain underwater for extended periods. Monitor the WTI futures curve regularly: if backwardation shifts to deep contango, reduce position size or pause the EA. Past performance does not guarantee future results.