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): July 6, 2009
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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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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
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(510) 522-3336
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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
In recent
months, a number of published reports have attempted to make the case that last
year’s run-up in crude oil prices and their subsequent fall and recent rise
this year, 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
the United States Oil Fund, LP (“USO” or the “Fund”) as an example of such a
fund whose buying and selling activities were alleged to be causing unusually
wide swings in crude oil prices.
USO’s management
believes these reports significantly mischaracterize USO’s impact on
the market price of oil and is
providing factual information that rebuts these reports. USO in
no way intends that the information included in this Form 8-K be considered an
“offer” of its units.
Many of
the articles published on this topic have stated that USO’s large size, and the
fact that it was the first publicly-offered, exchange-traded vehicle that
exculsively offered exposure to crude oil futures, made it a key factor in the
rapid rise of crude oil prices in 2008. Furthermore, several articles continue
to make such claims for market activity continuing into 2009. However, the
management of USO believes that readily available information from USO’s website
and other widely available financial news and data sources indicate that many or
most of these claims lack merit.
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 runs from USO’s inception date,
April 10, 2006, to June 24, 2009. 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 and $53 a
barrel price, to July 2008 and roughly $145 a barrel, USO’s holdings in crude
oil futures contracts declined. Furthermore, the increase in crude
oil contracts held by USO occurred in late 2008 and continued to February 2009,
coinciding with a period of time when crude oil prices trended lower, not
higher. The data presented in the chart below does not support the theory that
USO’s large scale purchasing of crude oil futures contracts drove prices
significantly higher because crude oil prices fell during that same time
period.
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 seller of futures contracts, not a buyer. The data presented in the chart
does not support the theory that USO’s activities drove oil prices
significantly higher in recent months.
In sum, management strongly believes
that the activities of USO have not caused the extreme swings in the price of
crude oil as alleged in some published articles during the above-noted time
frame. However, due to the nature of these unfounded claims about USO and
its investing practices, USO management 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.
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:
July 6, 2009
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By:
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/s/
Howard Mah
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Name: Howard
Mah
Title: Chief
Financial Officer
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