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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XOP +62.5%.

Which is cheaper, USO or XOP?

XOP is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs XOP: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and XOP a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +62.5%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $4.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF.

USO on its own →XOP on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+62.5%

XOP total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.35%

XOP expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XOP costs 0.51 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 70.8 points; XOP is 2.4 times larger.

USO vs XOP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XOP
Return
Measure	USO	XOP
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+62.5%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	XOP
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008	24.8%, high on Jun 23, 2014
Benchmark
Measure	USO	XOP
What it tracks	Oil futures	S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	XOP
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.9bn	$4.6bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	XOP
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Risk and return

Jun 30, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,060 weekly returns

USO XOP

Return

Total return edge XOP −69.6% +71.5%

Annualized edge XOP −5.7% +2.7%

Price return edge XOP −69.6% +29.3%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 37.3% 37.0%

Max drawdown edge XOP (slight) −98.0% −89.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XOP −0.01 0.21

Sortino edge XOP −0.02 0.30

Calmar edge XOP −0.06 0.03

Reading

XOP returned more: +71.5% to −69.6%. USO and XOP swung about the same: 37.3% and 37.0%. XOP fell slightly less at its worst: −89.6% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USO vs XOP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XOP	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	−69.6%	+71.5%	XOP	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	−5.7%	+2.7%	XOP	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−69.6%	+29.3%	XOP	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	37.3%	37.0%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	27.0%	26.4%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−98.0%	−89.6%	XOP (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.01	0.21	XOP	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.02	0.30	XOP	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	−0.06	0.03	XOP	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,060 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP XOP State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF State Street

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +62.5%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.35%

Holdings not counted 52

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and XOP as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.9bn $4.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D0396C0D57

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

What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and XOP follows S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and XOP +62.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 70.8 points.
Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and XOP 0.35%, a gap of 0.51 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.

XOP

XOP tracks the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +62.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. It sat 24.8% below its high of Jun 23, 2014 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or XOP?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XOP +62.5%.
Which is cheaper, USO or XOP?: XOP is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

XOP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XOP 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 XOP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-xop

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