OILK vs UNG

OILKAProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil ETF

UNGDUnited States Natural Gas Fund LP

In short

OILK The only crude oil ETF that spares you a Schedule K-1. OILK sends a 1099 instead, and its index spreads WTI futures across three roll schedules rather than camping in the front month. All-in cost: 0.70%.

UNG The energy-futures aisle is mostly crude; UNG is the natural gas one. Live since 2007, it tracks the daily percentage move in Henry Hub gas through a short-dated futures benchmark, not the spot price quoted on TV.

Stated mandate

OILK The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the Bloomberg Commodity Balanced WTI Crude Oil IndexSM.

UNG UNG seeks to reflect the daily percentage change in the price of natural gas delivered at Henry Hub, Louisiana, through a specified short-term benchmark futures contract, plus collateral interest and less expenses.

Why people hold it

• OILK At 0.70%, the cheapest of the headline oil-futures funds: USO charges 0.86%, USL 1.01%, DBO 0.81%, none of them waiver-assisted.
• A 1940 Act fund that holds its futures through a Cayman subsidiary capped at 25% of assets each quarter-end, so tax time brings a 1099, not a partnership K-1.proshares.comproshares.com 2
• Its index splits WTI exposure evenly across a monthly roll, a June annual roll and a December annual roll, resetting each March and September, diluting front-month roll costs.bbhub.io
• Trading since 2016 and one of the stronger implementations in a small energy-futures peer group.

• UNG Henry Hub exposure from an ordinary brokerage account: no futures account, no contracts to roll yourself, just a ticker that follows the daily move in short-dated gas futures.
• Running since 2007 and very actively traded, it is one of the best-established ways to put on a natural gas view in fund form.
• The mandate is literal: the daily percentage change in one specified benchmark futures contract, plus collateral interest, less expenses. No stock picking, no discretion, no overlay.

Worth knowing

• OILK Tracks a futures index, not spot WTI. ProShares says plainly it should be expected to perform very differently from the spot price of WTI crude.proshares.com
• One commodity, one curve: the portfolio is a few WTI futures positions plus cash-like collateral, so it moves with oil and nothing else.proshares.com
• Income, if any, is paid monthly and comes largely from collateral yield, so the amount moves around rather than acting like a fixed coupon.proshares.com

• UNG Futures, not spot. The benchmark contract has to be rolled forward, so results over months and years can drift well away from the headline Henry Hub price.
• Fees sit at the top of the group: 1.17% a year versus a 1.15% peer median, while crude-focused rivals OILK (0.69%) and DBO (0.81%) charge far less.
• It is a limited partnership commodity pool, so tax reporting works differently than a standard fund. Some peers, such as OILK, are built to skip that paperwork.

Full OILK profile⁠

Full UNG profile⁠