United States Oil Fund

What United States Oil Fund does

United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) is a US-listed exchange-traded fund launched in 2006 that seeks to track the daily price movements of light, sweet crude oil. USO invests primarily in short-term oil futures contracts listed on NYMEX, ICE Futures Europe, and ICE Futures U.S., supplemented by OTC swaps and reverse repurchase agreements, with the portfolio weighted toward the next 12 months of the futures curve. The fund is structured as a limited partnership, sponsored by United States Commodity Funds LLC as General Partner, with USCF Advisers LLC acting as investment adviser under parent USCF Investments, Inc. USO is listed on NYSE Arca and is the flagship of a 17-fund USCF family that spans oil and energy, natural gas, broad commodities, sustainable commodities, gold strategies, and equity income ETFs (the latter offered via sub-advisory partnerships with firms such as Miller/Howard Investments). The fund serves two customer segments: individual investors who buy and sell shares on the secondary market through broker-dealers, and Authorized Participants who create and redeem shares directly with the fund. Revenue is generated from (i) management fees levied as a percentage of net assets under management and (ii) Authorized Participant transaction fees of $350 per order, with no other disclosed revenue streams. Recent fund family activity includes the launches of ZSB Sustainable Battery Metals Strategy Fund (Jan 2023), USE Energy Commodity Strategy Absolute Return Fund (May 2023), ZSC Sustainable Commodity Strategy Fund (Aug 2023), and WTIB Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund (Dec 2025), alongside a defensive transition of USO itself back to a benchmark futures strategy in late 2023.

Name

United States Oil Fund

Legal name

United States Commodity Funds LLC

Website

https://uscfinvestments.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Short description

USO is an exchange-traded fund launched in 2006 that tracks daily movements of light sweet crude oil via NYMEX and ICE futures, listed on NYSE Arca under the USCF fund family sponsored by United States Commodity Funds LLC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Exchange-Traded Commodity Funds

NAICS

Commodity Contracts Intermediation (523160), Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers (6221), Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Managed Futures / CTA (Trend, Carry, Global Futures) (FSAHAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Crude Oil & Refined Products Trading & Marketing (EUAGAAAD), Hedge Funds — Commodity Systematic/CTA (Managed Futures) (FSAHAHAC)

Keywords

• Crude oil futures
• Commodity exchange-traded funds
• Oil price tracking
• Futures contract tracking
• Energy commodity exposure

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut Creek

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: USO generates revenue through management fees charged on total net assets. The Total Expense Ratio is disclosed on the fund page. Fees are used to cover fund operations, advisory services, and administration costs.
2. Authorized Participant Transaction Fees: Transaction charges for Authorized Purchasers creating or redeeming Creation Units. For USO, the transaction charge is $350 per order (not per basket).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) is a publicly traded exchange-traded commodity product designed so that the daily percentage change in its NAV reflects the daily percentage change in the spot price of light sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma, as measured by the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract, plus interest earned on USO's collateral holdings, less USO's expenses. USO primarily invests in oil futures contracts traded on NYMEX (and on ICE Futures Europe and ICE Futures U.S., to a lesser extent), and may invest in over-the-counter swaps collateralized by cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. government obligations. Shares are listed on NYSE Arca and may be purchased and sold throughout the trading day.

Product overview

USO (United States Oil Fund) is a single-commodity exchange-traded security designed to track daily price movements of light, sweet crude oil. The fund operates alongside a broader platform of commodity and equity ETFs managed by USCF Investments, including: USO (oil), USL (12-month oil), BNO (Brent oil), UNG (natural gas), UNL (12-month natural gas), and UGA (gasoline) as single-commodity funds; USCI and SDCI as broad commodity funds; ZSB and ZSC as sustainable commodity funds; USG, USE, and WTIB as alternative commodity strategies; and UDI and UMI as equity income funds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Real Spiel: Podcast by USCF Investments covering real assets and commodities

Products and services

• USO | United States Oil Fund Exchange-traded security designed to track daily price movements of light, sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma. Invests in oil futures contracts traded on NYMEX and ICE Futures, and to a lesser extent in swaps and forwards, collateralized by cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. government obligations.
• USL | United States 12 Month Oil Fund Exchange-traded security tracking WTI light, sweet crude oil price movements through the average of 12 consecutive NYMEX futures contracts (near month plus 11 following months), each contract month equally weighted.
• UNG | United States Natural Gas Fund Exchange-traded security tracking daily price movements of natural gas delivered at Henry Hub, Louisiana through the NYMEX near month futures contract.
• UGA | United States Gasoline Fund Exchange-traded security tracking daily price movements of RBOB gasoline for delivery to New York harbor through the NYMEX futures contract.
• UNL | United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund Exchange-traded security tracking natural gas price movements through the average of 12 consecutive NYMEX futures contracts, reducing the impact of contango and backwardation.
• BNO | United States Brent Oil Fund Exchange-traded security tracking daily price movements of Brent crude oil through the ICE Futures Exchange near month futures contract.
• USCI | United States Commodity Index Fund Exchange-traded security tracking the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Index Total Return (SDCITR), providing exposure to 14 commodity futures contracts across petroleum, precious metals, industrial metals, grains, and non-primary sectors.
• CPER | United States Copper Index Fund Exchange-traded security tracking the SummerHaven Copper Index Total Return, investing in copper futures contracts on the COMEX exchange and rebalanced monthly.
• SDCI | USCF SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund ETF tracking the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Index Total Return with 80% of assets in futures contracts and commodity-related derivatives; structured to avoid generating K-1 tax forms for investors.
• UMI | USCF Midstream Energy Income Fund Actively managed ETF investing in equity securities of U.S. and Canadian midstream energy infrastructure companies; sub-advised by Miller/Howard Investments.
• USG | USCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund Actively managed gold ETF seeking long-term performance corresponding to gold markets while generating dividend income through selling gold call options and collateral interest income.
• UDI | USCF Dividend Income Fund Actively managed ETF seeking high level of current income with secondary objective of growth of income by investing in U.S. dividend-paying and dividend-growth companies meeting ESG criteria; sub-advised by Miller/Howard Investments.
• ZSB | USCF Sustainable Battery Metals Strategy Fund Actively managed ETF seeking total return by investing in metals derivatives tied to metals necessary for electrification (cobalt, copper, iron ore, lithium, nickel); includes carbon offset investments.
• USE | USCF Energy Commodity Strategy Absolute Return Fund Actively managed absolute return ETF using proprietary methodology to invest in and allocate among energy-related derivative instruments based on oil, petroleum, and natural gas; may invest in clean energy futures.
• ZSC | USCF Sustainable Commodity Strategy Fund ETF providing exposure across three sustainability themes: agriculture (40%), renewable energy (20%), and battery and electrification metals (40%); uses proprietary methodology to select commodity derivatives.
• WTIB | USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund Actively managed ETF providing exposure to crude oil markets (Oil Strategy) and Bitcoin (Bitcoin Strategy) through futures contracts and bitcoin-related securities, with leverage to provide equal exposure to both strategies.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• United States Commodity Funds LLCcoreOthersUnited States Commodity Funds LLC serves as the General Partner of USO, having authority to manage investments and operations of the fund. This is the parent/sponsor entity responsible for overall fund management.
• ALPS Distributors, Inc.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorALPS Distributors, Inc. serves as the Marketing Agent for USO, facilitating distribution of the fund shares. Located at 1290 Broadway, Suite 1000, Denver, Colorado 80203.
• Miller/Howard Investments, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-adviser for UMI and UDI funds, utilizing bottom-up fundamental research process to evaluate midstream energy infrastructure companies and dividend-paying companies respectively.
• SummerHaven Index Management LLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationIndex provider for USCI and CPER funds. SummerHaven Index Management develops and maintains the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Index Total Return and SummerHaven Copper Index Total Return.
• SummerHaven Investment Management LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSub-adviser for USG (USCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund), providing investment advisory services for gold markets exposure.
• The Bank of New York MelloncoreOthersServes as the Administrator for UMI and other funds, providing NAV calculation and fund administration services.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG): USCF family product tracking natural gas front-month futures on NYMEX. Same sponsor and ETF structure as USO; comparable commodity futures exposure vehicle for energy traders.
• United States 12 Month Oil Fund (USL): Same USCF family product tracking WTI crude through a 12-month futures strip to mitigate contango. Directly comparable to USO in commodity, sponsor, structure, and customer base — the closest peer.
• United States Copper Index Fund (CPER): USCF single-commodity ETF tracking copper futures on COMEX. Same sponsor and structure as USO, demonstrating USCF's commodity futures ETF template beyond oil.
• United States Commodity Index Fund (USCI): Sibling USCF broad-commodity ETF tracking the SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Index. Same sponsor and commodity futures methodology, offering diversified exposure across 14 commodities including petroleum.
• United States Gasoline Fund (UGA): USCF family product tracking RBOB gasoline futures. Same sponsor structure as USO, focused on a refined product downstream of crude — comparable energy commodity ETF.
• Invesco DB Oil Fund (DBO): Invesco-sponsored oil ETF tracking Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index — Optimum Yield Crude Oil. Direct competitor in the WTI crude oil ETF space with similar futures-based exposure.
• United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO): Sibling USCF product tracking Brent crude oil via ICE Futures. Directly competes for crude oil exposure dollars; same sponsor, same structure, same exchange.
• ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO): ProShares leveraged oil ETF providing 2x daily exposure to Bloomberg crude oil sub-index. Direct competitor for tactical oil exposure with leveraged mechanics, served via similar retail broker channels.

Broad incumbents

• SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP): State Street's broad energy sector ETF tracking S&P oil & gas E&P companies. Equity-based alternative to USO for crude oil price exposure; serves overlapping retail investor base seeking oil-related returns.
• iShares S&P GSCI Commodity-Indexed Trust (GSG): BlackRock's broad commodity ETF tracking S&P GSCI with heavy WTI weighting. Comparable broad-commodity exposure product from a major incumbent asset manager, competing for similar investor mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/USCFInvestments
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBvq6qgmkXBdSurtPGJ7FrA
• Facebookfacebook.com/InvestInWhatsReal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/10577299
• Instagraminstagram.com/uscfinvestments

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about United States Oil Fund