United States Oil Fund, LP (NYSE: USO)

United States Oil Fund, LP is a commodity pool that issues limited partnership interests traded on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker symbol USO. The fund commenced trading on April 10, 2006, and maintains its principal office at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640, Walnut Creek, California 94596. As a commodity pool, United States Oil Fund, LP is designed to provide investors with exposure to crude oil price movements by tracking the daily percentage changes in the spot price of light, sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma. This tracking is accomplished through a specified short-term futures contract known as the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract, with the fund's investment objective seeking to align its net asset value performance with this benchmark while incorporating interest earned on collateral holdings and deducting fund expenses.

United States Oil Fund, LP generates investment returns for shareholders by maintaining a portfolio primarily invested in oil futures contracts and related instruments that mirror the performance of the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract. The fund allocates substantially all of its assets to Oil Interests, which include futures contracts for light, sweet crude oil, various grades of crude oil, diesel-heating oil, gasoline, natural gas, and other petroleum-based fuels traded on exchanges such as the NYMEX and ICE. To a lesser extent, the fund may hold other oil-related investments including cash-settled options on oil futures, forward contracts, cleared swap agreements, and non-exchange traded over-the-counter transactions based on oil prices. United States Oil Fund, LP supports these positions by holding collateral in short-term United States government securities with maturities of 2 years or less, along with cash and cash equivalents. The fund implements a monthly roll process where, during a 5-day period each month (previously 10 days prior to January 1, 2026), it transitions its futures holdings from the current month contract to the following month contract to avoid physical delivery obligations. Shares of the fund are created and redeemed exclusively through Authorized Participants in blocks of 100,000 shares, with the fund having 13 such participants as of December 31, 2025, who facilitate liquidity by exchanging baskets of shares for the underlying portfolio of treasuries and cash representing the net asset value.

Within the specialized market of exchange-traded products focused on energy commodities, United States Oil Fund, LP occupies a leading position as the first and largest fund specifically designed to track crude oil prices through futures contracts. The fund faces competition from similar products offering varying exposure to the oil complex, including the United States 12 Month Oil Fund (USL) which provides exposure to a longer-dated futures contract, the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO) which tracks Brent crude oil prices, and commodity-specific funds such as the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) and the United States Gasoline Fund (UGA). United States Oil Fund, LP maintains competitive advantages through its status as the pioneer in the oil ETF space, resulting in deep liquidity, tight bid-ask spreads, and widespread recognition among investors seeking direct crude oil market access. The fund's straightforward structure, which directly links share price movements to benchmark oil futures prices without complex leverage or active trading strategies, appeals to both retail and institutional investors looking for transparent, cost-effective exposure to energy markets.

United States Oil Fund, LP serves a broad investor base consisting of individual retail investors seeking to diversify portfolios with commodity exposure, institutional investors utilizing the fund for tactical asset allocation or risk management purposes, and commercial participants from oil-related industries who use the fund to hedge against price volatility in their operations. The fund's shares are readily accessible to any investor with a standard brokerage account due to their listing on the NYSE Arca exchange, where they trade throughout market hours like any other publicly traded security. The fund's high trading volume and consistent presence in energy market discussions indicate widespread adoption across the investment community as a primary vehicle for gaining leveraged or unleveraged exposure to fluctuations in crude oil prices without the logistical challenges of physical oil ownership.