The large US oil-company fund returned 45% this year. A pipeline-and-power fund returned 13%.
The large US oil-company fund, XLE, returned 44.7% with dividends through Monday, October 5, while a pipeline-and-power fund, EMLP, returned 12.6%.
Key takeaways
XLE, the fund that holds the large US oil companies, returned 44.7% this year through Monday, October 5, including dividends. EMLP, which holds pipelines and power companies, returned 12.6%.
The Energy Information Administration said the price of the nearest Brent crude futures contract started the year at $61 a barrel and finished March at $118. It said military action in the Middle East on Saturday, February 28, was followed by a halt in most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the lane out of the Persian Gulf. Counting inflation, the agency called the quarter's rise the largest in its data back to 1988.
Yearly returns include dividends. The quarter column is the share-price change from the end of June to the end of September.
XLE holds 21 stocks and $40.2 billion of the $68.1 billion in the category's funds. Exxon Mobil and Chevron are 42% of it. Vanguard's VDE and Fidelity's FENY, the other large funds that simply hold US energy companies, finished within a percentage point of XLE.
Oil-company funds bunched near 44%. The refiner fund did not.
CRAK owns only refiners. The Energy Information Administration said the third-quarter gap between gasoline and crude was more than double a year earlier, and the gap for diesel and jet fuel almost tripled, with refining disrupted in Russia, China and the Middle East.
First Trust says EMLP emphasizes distributions and dividends. It puts 49% of its money in utilities and 46% in energy companies, led by pipeline companies. It charges 0.95% a year and holds $4.0 billion.
ENFR owns the pipelines without the power companies, and it charges 0.35%.
In the third quarter, the nearest Brent futures contract began the quarter at $72 a barrel and crude prices climbed, the Energy Information Administration said. XLE's share price rose 15.8%. ENFR's fell 3.8%, and EMLP's fell 5.8%.
The share price of XLU, a fund of large US utilities, fell 13% that quarter and 6.4% this year.
XLE rose. Pipelines and utilities fell.
This year, CRAK returned 73.4%, far ahead of the oil-company funds. ENFR returned 24.1%, ahead of SPY at 14.5%. EMLP finished behind ENFR and behind SPY.
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Frequently asked questions
What happened to the oil price?
The Energy Information Administration said the nearest Brent contract started the year at $61 a barrel and finished March at $118, after a halt in most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
What does the pipeline-and-power fund hold?
First Trust says EMLP puts 49% of its money in utilities and 46% in energy companies, led by pipeline companies.
Did refiners beat the oil companies?
CRAK, which owns only refiners, returned 73.4% this year, far ahead of the oil-company funds.
How did the funds do in the third quarter?
From the end of June to the end of September, XLE's share price rose 15.8%, ENFR's fell 3.8%, and EMLP's fell 5.8%.
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