The Best Oil ETFs for July 2025
Oil ETFs are baskets of securities that track the price of oil as a commodity, or contain oil stocks. They are an easy way to invest in oil markets, but they do carry risk.
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Investing in oil is typically reserved for advanced commodity traders — if you're trying to invest in the commodity itself. But if you're just looking to gain exposure to oil, and to perhaps try to profit from its big swings, oil exchange-traded funds may be a better approach.
What are oil ETFs?
Oil ETFs are baskets of securities that either track the price of oil as a commodity or contain oil stocks. Oil ETFs give investors easy access to a commodity that’s difficult to own and store. But oil prices can swing drastically in either direction and can be closely correlated to global and geopolitical events, making it a complex and often risky investment.
» Want to know more? Learn how to invest in oil
Best-performing oil ETFs
The oil ETFs we track are commodities ETFs, meaning they track the price of oil through benchmarks such as the Brent Crude Oil or West Texas Intermediate benchmarks. These categories of ETFs do not hold oil company stocks. Our screen also may include oil ETNs (more on that below).
Oil ETFs had been having a rough go. OPEC+ had agreed to boost production amid fears of a global economic slowdown, which would drive down demand for oil. However, when tensions arose between Israel and Iran — a major producer of oil — investors began fearing supply issues. For a brief moment, USO's performance turned positive, but less than a week later, oil ETFs were slumping again, as shown below.
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) |
|---|---|---|
USO | United States Oil Fund | -6.75% |
UGA | United States Gasoline Fund LP | -9.77% |
USL | United States 12 Month Oil Fund LP | -12.98% |
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of July 2, 2025, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||
» Curious about oil stocks? Explore how to buy oil stocks
What are oil ETNs?
Oil ETNs, or exchange-traded notes, are similar to oil ETFs in that they are both traded on securities exchanges and can be bought and sold throughout the trading day, similar to stocks. A major difference between ETFs and ETNs is that ETFs are investment companies registered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and ETFs actually own the underlying assets that you, as an investor, own a part of. ETNs do not own an underlying portfolio of assets, and instead are made up of unsecured debt obligations. ETNs are generally considered riskier investments than ETFs.
» Ready to get started? Check out the best brokers for ETF investors
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