United States Oil Fund, LP
United States Oil Fund, LP is a Delaware limited partnership that issues exchange-traded limited partnership interests designed to track crude oil price movements. It is organized as a commodity pool and invests primarily in oil futures contracts and related oil-linked instruments through its general partner, United States Commodity Funds LLC.
Fiscal year 2025 · change from previous year
Development 2020–2025
Business
Share of revenuePublicly traded partnership units that give investors exposure to the fund's oil-linked strategy.
Primary portfolio holdings used to seek exposure to light, sweet crude oil prices.
Supplemental instruments such as options, forwards, cleared swaps, and OTC swaps.
Customers
USO is bought by investors who want exchange-traded exposure to crude oil prices without directly trading futures contracts. Its unitholders include retail investors, institutions, and traders using the fund for tactical positioning or hedging against oil price moves. The product is also used by market participants who need liquid, listed exposure to the oil complex.
Buy shares for simple exchange-traded exposure to crude oil prices without managing futures accounts.
Use the fund for portfolio hedging, tactical allocation, or short-term commodity exposure.
Trade the shares for liquidity and intraday access to oil price movements.
Use the fund as a proxy exposure to offset oil-linked business or portfolio risk.
Strategy
USO's strategy is to provide daily crude oil price exposure through a portfolio centered on the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract. It may also use other oil futures, options, forwards, cleared swaps, and OTC swaps when market conditions, liquidity, regulatory limits, or risk controls require flexibility. The fund's structure is designed to keep the portfolio aligned with its benchmark while managing roll mechanics and collateral holdings.
The fund exists to mirror daily oil price changes through futures-based positioning.
Alternative instruments may be needed when liquidity, limits, or market conditions change.
Futures-based exposure is affected by contango and backwardation, which influence returns.
Geography
USO is organized and managed in the United States, with its main business office in Walnut Creek, California. Its portfolio exposure is global in nature because the fund trades oil futures and related instruments on U.S. and foreign exchanges, including NYMEX and ICE Futures. The economic drivers of performance are worldwide crude oil supply, demand, and geopolitics rather than a single operating geography.
Risks
USO is exposed to the inherent volatility of crude oil futures, where rapid price moves can materially affect investor outcomes. Because the fund relies on derivatives and rolling futures contracts, performance can diverge from spot oil due to contango, backwardation, liquidity constraints, and regulatory limits. Geopolitical shocks, trade policy changes, supply disruptions, and valuation uncertainty in OTC instruments are additional risks.
- Commodity price volatilityImpact: CriticalLikelihood: Medium
The fund's value is directly tied to crude oil futures prices, which can change rapidly.
Exposure: Benchmark Oil Futures Contract and related oil interests
- Tracking error versus spot oilImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
Futures roll mechanics and holding periods can cause returns to differ from crude oil spot prices.
Exposure - Contango and backwardationImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
The term structure of futures prices affects roll costs and total return.
Exposure: Monthly futures rolls
- Geopolitical and trade disruptionImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
Wars, sanctions, tariffs, and trade barriers can alter oil supply, demand, and liquidity.
Exposure: Global crude oil market
- Valuation uncertainty in OTC instrumentsImpact: MediumLikelihood: Low
Forward contracts and OTC swaps require fair value estimates based on future cash flows.
Exposure: Other Oil-Related Investments
Accounting
Judgemental itemsNon-exchange-traded positions are valued using discounted future cash flows, which requires judgment.
Impact: Can affect reported asset values and period-to-period results
Exchange-traded oil futures are marked to market using broker-provided prices.
Impact: Drives daily NAV changes
Interest and dividend income are estimated daily and adjusted when received.
Impact: Affects income recognition and comparability
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Last updated: 24/09/2026