United States Brent Oil Fund, LP

What they do

BNO is a Delaware limited partnership organized in 2009 and managed by United States Commodity Funds LLC (USCF). It invests primarily in futures contracts for crude oil and other petroleum-based fuels traded on ICE Futures and NYMEX, with the objective that its per-share NAV changes track the daily changes of the Benchmark Futures Contract on Brent crude oil within a plus/minus 10% band over 30 valuation days. It also holds collateral that earns interest, and may use other crude oil-related investments such as options, forwards, and swaps for liquidity or regulatory compliance.

Revenue drivers

• Interest on collateral holdings — BNO earns interest on its cash and collateral holdings, which are held to support futures positions; as of June 30, 2026, cash and equivalents were $394.4M of $544.2M total assets.
• Changes in futures contract values — The fund's NAV is driven by daily mark-to-market changes in its Brent crude oil futures positions, which is reflected in revenue/income; these changes are volatile and can be positive or negative.
• Creation/redemption activity — As an exchange-traded commodity pool, BNO generates income from the continuous offering and redemption of shares, though the fund itself does not have traditional product revenue.

Recent performance

In FY2025, BNO reported net income of $-4.1M and operating cash flow of $-3.7M, following net income of $10.6M in FY2024. In the most recent quarters, revenue fluctuated significantly: $5.2M in Q1 2025, $-6.0M in Q2 2025, $3.0M in Q3 2025, and $-5.2M in Q4 2025. As of June 30, 2026, total assets were $544.2M and total liabilities were $0.66M.

Strategy

BNO's stated strategy is to remain invested in Brent crude oil futures contracts to achieve its investment objective of tracking the Benchmark Futures Contract within a specified tolerance band. The general partner, USCF, monitors market conditions and may shift to other crude oil-related investments for liquidity or more favorable pricing. The fund does not seek to equal the spot price in dollar terms, but rather to track daily percentage changes over one-day periods.

Risks

• Futures market volatility — Daily changes in Brent futures prices can be extreme, causing significant swings in NAV and revenue, as seen in recent quarterly revenue fluctuations between $5.2M and $-6.0M.
• Tracking error — The fund may deviate from its investment objective if the average daily percentage change in NAV over 30 days moves outside plus/minus 10% of the Benchmark Futures Contract, which could lead to shareholder losses.
• Contango and backwardation — Rolling futures contracts can generate negative or positive roll yield, which can cause the fund's performance to diverge from spot Brent prices over time.
• Geopolitical and macroeconomic events — The fund's performance is exposed to global events such as the Russia-Ukraine war and Middle East conflicts, which can cause sudden market disruptions and affect Brent prices and futures liquidity.

Outlook

Management does not provide specific financial guidance, but it discusses forward-looking risks including inflation, market volatility, and geopolitical conflicts. The fund's continued operation depends on maintaining its tracking objective and managing futures positions. No material operational changes have been disclosed in recent 8-K filings, which were limited to Regulation FD disclosures.