Crude oil futures contracts allow crude to be bought and sold for delivery at specific dates in the future, meaning market participants can lock in a price today for the future delivery of a barrel of oil. Over the past six months, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil has increased, but the prices of futures contracts for WTI further into the future have remained fairly flat.

via Today in Energy http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=13051