ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- United States Commodity Funds LLC ("USCF"), the General Partner and manager of United States Oil Fund, LP ("USO"), United States Natural Gas Fund, LP ("UNG"), United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP ("USL"), United States Gasoline Fund, LP ("UGA") and United States Heating Oil Fund, LP ("UHN") (together, the "Funds"), today responded to recent comments made in media reports on the topic of credit risk and commodity based exchange traded securities and ETFs. Such reports mentioned that some commodity-based exchange traded securities make use of various non-exchange traded commodity related derivatives, such as swaps, to provide the fund's economic exposure to its underlying commodity or commodities. The reports further raise the issue that such non-listed investments raise the potential for counter-party risk on the part of the commodity funds if the other participant in the swap were to be unable to perform as required by the terms of the swap. With the recent disruption in the financial markets, the General Partner feels that some investors might incorrectly draw conclusions from the articles about the credit risks involved in the Funds managed by USCF.
One article correctly mentions that a particular USCF fund, USO, can make use of not only listed exchange-traded futures contracts, but also a wide range of alternative oil related investments, including swaps. However, it may appear from the article that USO actually does make use of non-exchange traded investments at the present time. This is not true and may be a source of confusion and unnecessary concern on the part of investors.
Every day, the Funds mentioned above publish a list of their portfolio's investments as of the end of each day on their websites and investors may review the current holdings. At the present time, except as noted below, all of the Funds mentioned above only have exchange-traded futures contracts as their sole commodity related investment. Currently all of the commodity exposure for each of the Funds is in the form of commodity futures contracts listed on the New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX"). In addition, a review of the quarterly filings for all of the Funds would show that each fund, since its inception, has relied exclusively on exchange-traded commodity futures to obtain its particular commodity exposure.
USCF cautions that although each Fund has exclusively relied on exchange-traded commodity futures in the past, the prospectuses of each of the Funds do permit the use of other investments and may make use of such alternatives in the future. In addition, as described in the prospectuses for USL, UGA and UHN, the General Partner may require an Authorized Purchaser to enter into or arrange for a block trade, exchange for physical or exchange for swap, or other over-the-counter energy transaction (through itself or a designated acceptable broker) with the Fund for the purchase of a number and type of futures contracts at the closing settlement price for such contracts on the purchase order date.
Although USCF believes that the use of exchange-traded futures, such as ones listed on NYMEX, present only a very small counter-party risk due to the fact that the trades are cleared through an exchange-related clearing house, there are other substantial risks. Investors are advised to read the prospectuses of the Funds for a more detailed discussion of the risks of investing in the Funds.
The United States Oil Fund, LP (ticker: USO), the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (ticker: UNG), the United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP (ticker: USL), the United States Gasoline Fund, LP (ticker: UGA), and the United States Heating Oil Fund, LP (ticker: UHN) are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc.
Note: Investors should read the prospectus for USO, UNG, USL, UGA, and UHN for more complete information about these securities, including risks, expenses, and other important terms. In addition, there can be no guarantee that USO, UNG, USL, UGA, or UHN will be able to achieve their investment goals.
Commodities and futures generally are volatile and may not be suitable for all investors
The fund is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. An investor may lose all or substantially all of an investment in the fund"; "The fund is not a mutual fund or any other type of Investment Company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and is not subject to regulation thereunder.
This material must be accompanied or preceded by a prospectus, please click the below links for a prospectus pertaining to each fund.
http://www.unitedstatesgasolinefund.com/PDFS/UGA-Prospectus.pdf http://www.unitedstatesoilfund.com/pdfs/uso-prospectus.pdf http://www.unitedstates12monthoilfund.com/pdfs/usl-prospectus.pdf http://www.unitedstatesnaturalgasfund.com/PDFS/UNG-Prospectus.pdf http://www.unitedstatesheatingoilfund.com/PDFS/UHN-Prospectus.pdf
For an additional copy of the Prospectus contact: ALPS Distributors, Inc., 1290 Broadway, Suite 1100, Denver, Colorado 80203 or call 1.800.920.0259.
