Which returned more over the last year, USO or VDE?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VDE +58.8%.

Which is cheaper, USO or VDE?

VDE is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and VDE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +58.8%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Energy ETF.

USO on its own →VDE on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+58.8%

VDE total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.09%

VDE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VDE costs 0.77 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 74.5 points.

USO vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VDE
Return
Measure	USO	VDE
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+58.8%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	VDE
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	USO	VDE
What it tracks	Oil futures	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	USO	VDE
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.09%
Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VDE as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.9bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	VDE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		81%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		67.1%

Method

Risk and return

Apr 21, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,070 weekly returns

USO VDE

Return

Total return edge VDE −70.9% +281.7%

Annualized edge VDE −5.8% +6.7%

Price return edge VDE −70.9% +123.9%

Risk

Volatility edge VDE 37.1% 28.3%

Max drawdown edge VDE −98.0% −72.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VDE −0.02 0.31

Sortino edge VDE −0.03 0.44

Calmar edge VDE −0.06 0.09

Reading

VDE returned more: +281.7% to −70.9%. VDE swung less: 28.3% to 37.1%. VDE fell less at its worst: −72.2% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USO vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VDE	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	−70.9%	+281.7%	VDE	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	−5.8%	+6.7%	VDE	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−70.9%	+123.9%	VDE	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	37.1%	28.3%	VDE	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	26.9%	20.3%	VDE	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−98.0%	−72.2%	VDE	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.02	0.31	VDE	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.03	0.44	VDE	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	−0.06	0.09	VDE	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,070 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP VDE Vanguard Energy ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF Vanguard

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Energy

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +58.8%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +59.0% (FENY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.2 pts vs FENY

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 113

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VDE as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.9bn $10.4bn

USO and VDE on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-6C9104B1E0

USO and VDE do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and VDE follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and VDE +58.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 74.5 points.
Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and VDE 0.09%, a gap of 0.77 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

USO

USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.

VDE

VDE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +58.8% with distributions reinvested, against +59.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 81% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 67.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or VDE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VDE +58.8%.
Which is cheaper, USO or VDE?: VDE is cheaper, by 0.77 percentage points a year. That is about $77 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

USO vs XOP IYE vs USO USO vs XLE USO vs VDC BWET vs VDE GLD vs VDE GLDM vs VDE IAU vs VDE

Where to next

USO on its own →VDE on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →VDE dividend history →VDE holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

VDE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VDE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VDE ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, USO against VDE, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-vde

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