W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) Max Pain Analysis
Max pain is the strike price where aggregate option buyer payout is minimized at expiration. It represents the price at which option writers retain the most premium.
W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) operates in the Energy sector, specifically the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry, with a market capitalization near $654.6M, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 400 people, carrying a beta of 0.29 to the broader market. W&T Offshore, Inc. Led by Tracy W. Krohn, public since 2005-01-28.
Snapshot as of May 14, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $4.46
- Max Pain Strike
- $2.50
- Total OI
- 68.2K
As of May 14, 2026, W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) max pain sits at $2.50, which is below the current spot price of $4.46 (43.9% away). Spot sits 43.9% below max pain - the gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the actual price path before any expiration pull. WTI is a low-priced underlying (spot $4.46), where $0.50 or finer strike spacing increases the number of viable pin candidates and dampens the dominant-strike effect. Total open interest across the listed chain is comparatively thin (68.2K contracts), so single-strike pinning is less reliable than it is for high-OI names. WTI is currently in positive dealer gamma ($193.0K), the regime that mechanically reinforces pinning by inducing dealers to buy weakness and sell strength near heavy-OI strikes. Max pain identifies the strike at which the aggregate dollar value of all outstanding options contracts would expire with the least total intrinsic value, a gravitational reference rather than a price target.
WTI Strategy Implications at the Current Max Pain Level
With spot 43.9% from the $2.50 max-pain level and W&T Offshore, Inc. in a positive-gamma regime, where dealer hedging mechanically pulls spot toward heavy-OI strikes, strategy selection turns on cycle position and dealer positioning. Iron condors and credit spreads centered near the max-pain strike capture the typical end-of-cycle convergence when the regime supports pinning; ratio backspreads or directional debit structures fit names where catalyst flow is likely to overwhelm the hedging-driven pull. The gamma-exposure page shows the per-strike dealer book that determines whether hedging will reinforce or fight the pin.
Learn how max pain is reported and how to read the data →
Frequently asked WTI max pain analysis questions
- What is the current WTI max pain strike?
- As of May 14, 2026, W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) max pain sits at $2.50, which is 43.9% below the current spot price of $4.46. Max pain identifies the strike at which aggregate option-buyer payouts at expiration are minimized; it is a gravitational reference, not a price target. A 43.9% gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the price path before any expiration pull.
- Does WTI pin to its max pain strike at expiration?
- WTI is currently in positive dealer gamma, the regime that mechanically reinforces pinning. Dealers hedging long-gamma books buy weakness and sell strength near high-OI strikes, which pulls spot toward those levels into expiration. Total open interest across WTI (68.2K contracts) is one input to how plausible a clean pin is - heavier total OI concentrated at fewer strikes raises the probability; thin OI spread across many strikes lowers it. Pinning is strongest in heavily-traded names with large open-interest concentrations at high-OI strikes during the final week of an OPEX cycle. Whether WTI actually pins on a given expiration depends on the OI distribution, the dealer-gamma sign, and the absence of catalyst-driven moves that overwhelm hedging-driven flow.
- How is WTI max pain calculated?
- Max pain is computed by summing the dollar value of all in-the-money options at each candidate settlement strike across listed expirations, then selecting the strike that minimizes total intrinsic-value payout to option buyers. The calculation uses the full open-interest distribution and weighs both calls and puts. WTI put/call OI ratio is 0.31 - call-heavy, which biases the max-pain calculation toward strikes above current spot when the call OI concentrates there.