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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLE +61.2%.

Which is cheaper, USO or XLE?

XLE is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and XLE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +61.2%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $45.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF.

USO on its own →XLE on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+61.2%

XLE total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.08%

XLE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLE costs 0.78 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 72.1 points; XLE is far larger, $45.2bn against $1.9bn.

USO vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XLE
Return
Measure	USO	XLE
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+61.2%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	XLE
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	USO	XLE
What it tracks	Oil futures	Energy Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	XLE
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.9bn	$45.2bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	XLE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		78.1%

Method

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP XLE State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF State Street

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Energy

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +61.2%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 22

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLE as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.9bn $45.2bn

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

Alert

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.

XLE

XLE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +61.2% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 22 positions, with the top ten at 78.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or XLE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLE +61.2%.
Which is cheaper, USO or XLE?: XLE is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

XLE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.