I guess the Jan contract closed on Friday, so too late this time. But for future reference I wonder what the practical considerations are for arranging storage and delivery. For instance for a gold contract I believe if you take delivery of bullion it has to be re-assayed before it is allowed back into the system.

Maybe someone has already gone through this process and can relate their experience of it. At current prices taking delivery of a full contract (1,000 barrels = $33,870) is not prohibitively expensive so long as the storage and transport costs are reasonable. How much does it cost to hire a small oil tanker for a month? Dry shipping rates have dropped through the floor but I don't know about liquid shipping rates.

http://www.nymex.com/CL_spec.aspx:
"Delivery
F.O.B. seller's facility, Cushing, Oklahoma, at any pipeline or storage facility with pipeline access to TEPPCO, Cushing storage, or Equilon Pipeline Co., by in-tank transfer, in-line transfer, book-out, or inter-facility transfer (pumpover).

Complete delivery rules and provisions are detailed in Chapter 200 of the Exchange Rulebook."
-> http://www.nymex.com/rule_main.aspx?pg=63

Oil stocks are at the top of the 5 year range, so it's a no brainer that storage facilities are full:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp

It's the guaranteed profit that is attractive to me, but I guess I would be exposed to margin call risk by shorting the Feb contract. So there's a catch there too.

Moe have you heard of Robert Prechter ? What do you think of his predictions (Grand Super Cycle)?