UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
DC 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of
Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 26,
2010
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UNITED
STATES OIL FUND, LP
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(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its
charter)
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Delaware
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001-32834
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20-2830691
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(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation)
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(Commission
File Number)
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(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
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1320 Harbor
Bay Parkway, Suite 145
Alameda, California 94502 |
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(Address of principal executive
offices) (Zip
Code)
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Registrant's
telephone number, including area code: (510) 522-9600
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Not
Applicable
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(Former
name or former address, if changed since last
report)
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Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions (see General Instruction
A.2. below):
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o
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Written
communication pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
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o
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Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
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o
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17
CFR 240.14d-2(b))
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17
CFR 240.13e-4c))
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Item
8.01. Other Events
On July
6, 2009, United States Oil Fund (“USO”) filed a current report on Form 8-K in
response to published reports suggesting that 2008’s run-up in crude oil prices
were the result of the investments made in the crude oil futures market by
large, un-levered and passive index funds. Many of these reports cited USO as an
example of such a fund whose buying and selling activities were alleged to be
causing unusually wide swings in crude oil prices.
On
January 7, 2010 USO filed another current report on Form 8-K in response to
these unfounded allegations. In that filing, USO included a chart which
displayed the total futures contract holdings of USO for the three years ending
December 31, 2009 versus the movement in the price of the crude oil futures
contract used as USO’s benchmark. Management believes that the chart makes clear
that any attempt to conclude that the run up in oil prices that occurred in 2007
and 2008 could possibly have been the direct or indirect result of USO’s
investing activity is a flawed conclusion.
The
report that USO has filed today extends the data contained in the chart from the
January 7, 2010 filing to include USO’s futures holdings and the price movement
of the crude oil futures contract used as USO’s benchmark to the time period
ending July 30, 2010. Management believes this additional information will be of
use to investors, financial regulators, and market observers.
Since the
run-up in crude oil prices in 2008, crude oil prices retreated in late 2008
through early 2009 but have risen again to nearly $80 per
barrel. These fluctuations have again given rise to published reports
suggesting that large, unlevered and passive index funds, such as USO, are to
blame for the recent increase in crude oil prices. USO’s management
believes these reports significantly mischaracterize USO’s impact on
the market price of oil and is providing updated factual information to rebut
these reports. USO in no way intends that the information included in this Form
8-K be considered an “offer” of its units.
The chart
below compares the price of the NYMEX front month light, sweet crude oil
contract (“CL”) to the actual size of USO’s crude oil futures contracts
holdings. The time period covered by this chart is the three year and seven
month period ending July 30, 2010. The CL price, shown on the left hand axis, is
in dollars per barrel. USO’s crude oil futures contract holdings, shown on the
right hand axis, are in 1,000 barrel contract equivalents.
The data
shows that during the run-up in crude oil prices from January 2007, at $53 a
barrel, to July 2008, at roughly $145 a barrel, USO’s holdings in crude oil
futures contracts declined.
Furthermore,
the increase in crude oil contracts held by USO that occurred in late 2008, and
continued to February 2009, coincided with a period of time when crude oil
prices trended lower, not higher.
Finally,
the most recent increase in crude oil prices, which began in February of 2009
and continues to the present, coincides with a period in which USO was a large
scale net seller of futures contracts, not a net buyer. The largest number of
crude oil futures contracts held by USO occurred when crude oil prices were
approximately $42 a barrel in early 2009, or near the low point during the
period of time presented in the chart below. Since February 2009,
crude oil prices have rebounded and are currently near $80 per barrel.
However, since February 2009, USO has been a net seller of crude oil
futures contracts and currently owns approximately one-quarter as many crude oil
futures contracts in the middle of 2010 as compared with the number of crude oil
futures contracts held in February 2009.
The data
presented in the chart does not support the theory that
USO’s activities drove oil prices significantly higher in either 2008
or in recent months and suggest that, if anything, USO’s activities were a
moderating influence on oil prices.
In sum,
management continues to strongly believe that the activities of USO have not
caused the extreme swings in the price of crude oil as alleged in some
published articles. However, due to the nature of these claims about USO and its
investing practices, USO management believes it has a legitimate concern that
the activities of USO could be negatively impacted to the detriment of its
thousands of unitholders, unless such claims are publicly refuted.
USO’s
management is of the view that the best source of information regarding its
investment objective and the risks associated with an investment in USO is its
most current prospectus and the periodic reports it files with its regulators,
including the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Copies of the most
current version of the foregoing can be found at USO’s website, www.unitedstatesoilfund.com, or
through the SEC on its website, www.sec.gov. Copies
are also available on request from USO’s general partner, United States
Commodity Funds LLC. In addition, on a daily basis, USO publishes on
its website its holdings and net asset value.
Certain
matters discussed in this current report on Form 8-K, including any
statements that are predictive in nature or concern future market and economic
conditions, our future performance, or our future actions and their
expected results are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations and projections about future events and are not
guarantees of future performance. We do not have a specific policy or intent of
updating or revising forward-looking statements. Actual events and results may
differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking
statements due to a number of factors. Please see our periodic reports and other
filings with the SEC for a further discussion of these and other risks and
uncertainties applicable to our business. The forward-looking statements
and projections contained in this current report on Form 8-K are excluded from
the safe harbor protection provided by Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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UNITED
STATES OIL FUND, LP
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By:
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United
States Commodity Funds LLC, its general partner
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Date: August
26, 2010
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By:
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/s/
Howard Mah
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Name:
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Howard
Mah
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Title:
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Chief
Financial Officer
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