United States Oil Fund, LP Files 2023 Annual Report

TL;DR

<b>United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) has filed its 2023 10-K, detailing its financial activities, contractual obligations, and ongoing investigations.</b>

AI Summary

United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) filed a Annual Report (10-K) with the SEC on February 29, 2024. The United States Oil Fund, LP (USO) filed its 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. The filing details various agreements including marketing agreements and brokerage/futures commission merchant agreements. USO holds open commodity futures contracts, both long and short, and commodity swaps. The fund is subject to SEC and CFTC investigations. The report covers the period from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

Why It Matters

For investors and stakeholders tracking United States Oil Fund, LP, this filing contains several important signals. The 10-K filing provides a comprehensive overview of USO's operations and financial health for the fiscal year 2023, which is crucial for investors to assess the fund's performance and risks. Information on SEC and CFTC investigations, along with details on commodity contracts and agreements, is vital for understanding potential regulatory impacts and the fund's exposure to market volatility.

Risk Assessment

Risk Level: medium — United States Oil Fund, LP shows moderate risk based on this filing. The fund is subject to SEC and CFTC investigations, which could lead to penalties or changes in operations.

Analyst Insight

Investors should review the details of the SEC and CFTC investigations mentioned in the filing to assess potential risks to the fund.

Key Numbers

• 2023-12-31 — Fiscal Year End (Reporting Period)
• 2024-02-29 — Filing Date (10-K Filing)
• 0001327068 — Central Index Key (Filer Identification)

Key Players & Entities

• United States Oil Fund, LP (company) — Filer
• USO (company) — Ticker Symbol
• SEC (regulator) — Investigation
• CFTC (regulator) — Investigation

FAQ

Risk Factors

• SEC and CFTC Investigations [high — regulatory]: The fund is subject to ongoing investigations by the SEC and CFTC, which could result in significant penalties or operational changes.

Industry Context

The United States Oil Fund, LP is an exchange-traded fund that seeks to track the daily performance of crude oil.

Regulatory Implications

The fund operates under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulate financial markets and commodity trading.

What Investors Should Do

1. Review the specific details and potential outcomes of the SEC and CFTC investigations.
2. Analyze the fund's holdings in commodity futures contracts and swaps for the fiscal year 2023.
3. Examine the terms and conditions of the marketing and brokerage agreements disclosed in the filing.

Key Dates

• 2023-12-31: Fiscal Year End — End of the reporting period for the 10-K filing.
• 2024-02-29: Filing Date — Date the 10-K was officially filed with the SEC.

Year-Over-Year Comparison

This is the 10-K filing for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, providing updated information since the previous reporting period.

Key Financial Figures

• $1,579,791,268 — the registrant as of June 30, 2023 was $1,579,791,268 . The registrant had 18,623,603 outst

Filing Documents

• uso-20231231x10k.htm (10-K) — 2068KB
• uso-20231231xex23d1.htm (EX-23.1) — 2KB
• uso-20231231xex31d1.htm (EX-31.1) — 14KB
• uso-20231231xex31d2.htm (EX-31.2) — 14KB
• uso-20231231xex32d1.htm (EX-32.1) — 7KB
• uso-20231231xex32d2.htm (EX-32.2) — 7KB
• uso-20231231xex97d1.htm (EX-97.1) — 32KB
• uso-20231231x10k009.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 40KB
• uso-20231231x10k010.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 60KB
• uso-20231231x10k011.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 52KB
• uso-20231231x10k012.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 71KB
• uso-20231231x10k013.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 58KB
• uso-20231231x10k014.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 2KB
• uso-20231231x10k015.jpg (GRAPHIC) — 3KB
• 0001410578-24-000108.txt (&nbsp;) — 6736KB
• uso-20231231.xsd (EX-101.SCH) — 46KB
• uso-20231231_cal.xml (EX-101.CAL) — 29KB
• uso-20231231_def.xml (EX-101.DEF) — 119KB
• uso-20231231_lab.xml (EX-101.LAB) — 271KB
• uso-20231231_pre.xml (EX-101.PRE) — 228KB
• uso-20231231x10k_htm.xml (XML) — 875KB

Business

Item 1. Business. 1

Risk Factors

Item 1A. Risk Factors. 32

Unresolved Staff Comments

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments. 49

Cybersecurity

Item 1C. Cybersecurity . 49

Properties

Item 2. Properties. 50

Legal Proceedings

Item 3. Legal Proceedings. 50

Mine Safety Disclosures

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures. 53 Part II

Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities. 54

[Reserved]

Item 6. [Reserved]. 54

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. 54

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. 74

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. 76

Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. 101

Controls and Procedures

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures. 101

Other Information

Item 9B. Other Information. 101

Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections. 101 Part III

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance. 102

Executive Compensation

Item 11. Executive Compensation. 107

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters. 107

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. 107

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services. 108 Part IV

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules. 109

Form 10-K Summary

Item 16. Form 10-K Summary. 110 Exhibit Index. 109 Signatures. 111 Table of Contents Part I

Business

Item 1. Business. What is USO? The United States Oil Fund, LP ("USO") is a Delaware limited partnership organized on May 12, 2005. USO maintains its main business office at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640, Walnut Creek, California 94596. USO is a commodity pool that issues limited partnership interests ("shares") traded on the NYSE Arca, Inc. (the "NYSE Arca"). USO's shares began trading on April 10, 2006. It operates pursuant to the terms of the Seventh Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership dated as of December 15, 2017 (as amended from time to time, the "LP Agreement"), which grants full management control to its general partner, United States Commodity Funds LLC ("USCF"). The investment objective of USO is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its per share net asset value ("NAV") to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the spot price of light, sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma, as measured by the daily changes in the price of a specified short-term futures contract on light, sweet crude oil called the "Benchmark Oil Futures Contract," plus interest earned on USO's collateral holdings, less USO's expenses. USO seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing so that the average daily percentage change in USO's NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the price of the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract over the same period. As a result, investors should be aware that USO would meet its investment objective even if there are significant deviations between changes in its daily NAV and changes in the daily price of the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract provided that the average daily percentage change in USO's NAV over 30 successive valuation days is within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the price of the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract over the same period. Investors should be aw

View Full Filing

View this 10-K filing on SEC EDGAR