Filed pursuant
to Rule 424(b)(3)
File
No. 333-263572
PROSPECTUS
United
States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP®*
Shares
*Principal U.S. Listing
Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.
The United
States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP (“UNL”) is an exchange traded fund organized as a limited partnership that issues
shares that trade on the NYSE Arca stock exchange (“NYSE Arca”). UNL’s investment objective is for the daily
changes in percentage terms of its shares’ per share net asset value (“NAV”) to reflect the daily changes in
percentage terms of the price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana, as measured by the daily changes in the average
of the prices of specified short-term futures contracts on natural gas called the “Benchmark Futures Contracts”, plus
interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, less UNL’s expenses. UNL pays its general partner, United States Commodity
Funds LLC (“USCF”), a limited liability company, a management fee and incurs operating costs. UNL and USCF are located
at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640, Walnut Creek, California 94596. The telephone number for both UNL and USCF is 510.522.9600.
In order for a hypothetical investment in shares to break even over the next 12 months, assuming a selling price of $9.56 (the
net asset value as of February 28, 2025), the investment would have to generate a 0% or $0 return.
UNL is
an exchange traded fund. This means that most investors who decide to buy or sell shares of UNL place their trade orders through
their brokers and may incur customary brokerage commissions and charges. Shares trade on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol
“UNL” and are bought and sold throughout the trading day at bid and ask prices like other publicly traded securities.
Shares
trade on the NYSE Arca after they are initially purchased by “Authorized Participants,” institutional firms that purchase
and redeem shares in blocks of 50,000 shares called “baskets” through UNL’s marketing agent, ALPS Distributors,
Inc. (the “Marketing Agent”). The price of a basket is equal to the NAV of 50,000 shares on the day that the order
to purchase the basket is accepted by the Marketing Agent. The NAV per share is calculated by taking the current market value
of UNL’s total assets (after close of NYSE Arca) subtracting any liabilities and dividing that total by the total number
of outstanding shares. The offering of UNL’s shares is a “best efforts” offering, which means that neither the
Marketing Agent nor any Authorized Participant is required to purchase a specific number or dollar amount of shares. USCF pays
the Marketing Agent a marketing fee consisting of a fixed annual amount plus an incentive fee based on the amount of shares sold.
Authorized Participants will not receive from UNL, USCF or any of their affiliates, any fee or other compensation in connection
with the sale of shares. Aggregate compensation paid to the Marketing Agent and any affiliate of USCF for distribution-related
services in connection with this offering of shares will not exceed ten percent (10%) of the gross proceeds of the offering.
Investors
who buy or sell shares during the day from their broker may do so at a premium or discount relative to the market value of the
underlying natural gas futures contracts in which UNL invests due to supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading
market for shares that are closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of natural gas and
the natural gas futures contracts that serve as UNL’s investment benchmark. INVESTING IN UNL INVOLVES RISKS SIMILAR TO
THOSE INVOLVED WITH AN INVESTMENT DIRECTLY IN THE NATURAL GAS MARKET, BUT IT IS NOT A PROXY FOR TRADING DIRECTLY IN THE NATURAL
GAS MARKETS. Investing in UNL also involves the correlation risk described below and other significant risks. Recent volatility
in the natural gas markets demonstrates that these risks are real. You should consider carefully the risks described below before
making an investment decision. See “Risk Factors Involved with an Investment in UNL” beginning on page 7.
The offering
of UNL’s shares is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in accordance with the Securities
Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”). The offering is intended to be a continuous offering, although the offering may be temporarily
suspended if and when no suitable investments for UNL are available or practicable. UNL is not a mutual fund registered under
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) and is not subject to regulation under the 1940 Act.
NEITHER
THE SEC NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THE SECURITIES OFFERED IN THIS PROSPECTUS, OR DETERMINED
IF THIS PROSPECTUS IS TRUTHFUL OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
UNL is
a commodity pool and USCF is a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (“CFTC”) and the National Futures Association (“NFA”) under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).
THE
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION HAS NOT PASSED UPON THE MERITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS POOL NOR HAS THE COMMISSION PASSED
ON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT.
The
date of this prospectus is April 25, 2025.
COMMODITY
FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
RISK
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
YOU
SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER YOUR FINANCIAL CONDITION PERMITS YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A COMMODITY POOL. IN SO DOING, YOU SHOULD
BE AWARE THAT COMMODITY INTEREST TRADING CAN QUICKLY LEAD TO LARGE LOSSES AS WELL AS GAINS. SUCH TRADING LOSSES CAN SHARPLY REDUCE
THE NET ASSET VALUE OF THE POOL AND CONSEQUENTLY THE VALUE OF YOUR INTEREST IN THE POOL. IN ADDITION, RESTRICTIONS ON REDEMPTIONS
MAY AFFECT YOUR ABILITY TO WITHDRAW YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE POOL.
FURTHER,
COMMODITY POOLS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSTANTIAL CHARGES FOR MANAGEMENT, AND ADVISORY AND BROKERAGE FEES. IT MAY BE NECESSARY FOR
THOSE POOLS THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THESE CHARGES TO MAKE SUBSTANTIAL TRADING PROFITS TO AVOID DEPLETION OR EXHAUSTION OF THEIR ASSETS.
THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT CONTAINS A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF EACH EXPENSE TO BE CHARGED THIS POOL AT PAGE 6 AND A STATEMENT OF
THE PERCENTAGE RETURN NECESSARY TO BREAK EVEN, THAT IS, TO RECOVER THE AMOUNT OF YOUR INITIAL INVESTMENT, AT PAGE 43.
THIS
BRIEF STATEMENT CANNOT DISCLOSE ALL THE RISKS AND OTHER FACTORS NECESSARY TO EVALUATE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS COMMODITY POOL.
THEREFORE, BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS COMMODITY POOL, YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY STUDY THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT, INCLUDING
A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL RISK FACTORS OF THIS INVESTMENT, AT PAGE 7.
YOU
SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE THAT THIS COMMODITY POOL MAY TRADE FOREIGN FUTURES OR OPTIONS CONTRACTS. TRANSACTIONS ON MARKETS LOCATED
OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING MARKETS FORMALLY LINKED TO A UNITED STATES MARKET, MAY BE SUBJECT TO REGULATIONS WHICH OFFER
DIFFERENT OR DIMINISHED PROTECTION TO THE POOL AND ITS PARTICIPANTS. FURTHER, UNITED STATES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES MAY BE UNABLE
TO COMPEL THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE RULES OF REGULATORY AUTHORITIES OR MARKETS IN NON-UNITED STATES JURISDICTIONS WHERE TRANSACTIONS
FOR THE POOL MAY BE EFFECTED.
SWAPS
TRANSACTIONS, LIKE OTHER FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS, INVOLVE A VARIETY OF SIGNIFICANT RISKS. THE SPECIFIC RISKS PRESENTED BY A PARTICULAR
SWAP TRANSACTION NECESSARILY DEPEND UPON THE TERMS OF THE TRANSACTION AND YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. IN GENERAL, HOWEVER, ALL SWAPS TRANSACTIONS
INVOLVE SOME COMBINATION OF MARKET RISK, CREDIT RISK, COUNTERPARTY CREDIT RISK, FUNDING RISK, LIQUIDITY RISK, AND OPERATIONAL
RISK.
HIGHLY
CUSTOMIZED SWAPS TRANSACTIONS IN PARTICULAR MAY INCREASE LIQUIDITY RISK, WHICH MAY RESULT IN A SUSPENSION OF REDEMPTIONS. HIGHLY
LEVERAGED TRANSACTIONS MAY EXPERIENCE SUBSTANTIAL GAINS OR LOSSES IN VALUE AS A RESULT OF RELATIVELY SMALL CHANGES IN THE VALUE
OR LEVEL OF AN UNDERLYING OR RELATED MARKET FACTOR.
IN
EVALUATING THE RISKS AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A PARTICULAR SWAP TRANSACTION, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THAT
A SWAP TRANSACTION MAY BE MODIFIED OR TERMINATED ONLY BY MUTUAL CONSENT OF THE ORIGINAL PARTIES AND SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT ON INDIVIDUALLY
NEGOTIATED TERMS. THEREFORE, IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE FOR THE COMMODITY POOL OPERATOR TO MODIFY, TERMINATE, OR OFFSET THE POOL’S
OBLIGATIONS OR THE POOL’S EXPOSURE TO THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH A TRANSACTION PRIOR TO ITS SCHEDULED TERMINATION DATE.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
PROSPECTUS
SUMMARY
This
is only a summary of the prospectus and, while it contains material information about UNL and its shares, it does not contain
or summarize all of the information about UNL and the shares contained in this prospectus that is material and/or which may be
important to you. You should read this entire prospectus, including “Risk Factors Involved with an Investment in UNL”
beginning on page 7, before making an investment decision about the shares. For a glossary of defined terms, see Appendix A.
United
States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP (“UNL”), a Delaware limited partnership, is a commodity pool that continuously
issues common shares of beneficial interest that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca stock exchange (“NYSE Arca”).
UNL is managed and controlled by United States Commodity Funds LLC (“USCF”), a Delaware limited liability company.
USCF is registered as a CPO with the CFTC and is a member of the NFA.
UNL’s Investment
Objective and Strategy
The investment
objective of UNL is for the daily percentage changes in the NAV per share to reflect the daily percentage changes of the spot
price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana as measured by the daily changes in the average of the prices of 12
futures contracts on natural gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”), consisting of the near
month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 months, for a total of 12 consecutive months’ contracts,
except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case it will be measured by the futures contract
that is the next month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 consecutive months (the “Benchmark Futures
Contracts”), plus interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, less UNL’s expenses. UNL seeks to achieve its
investment objective by investing so that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV for any period of 30 successive
valuation days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the average of the prices
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period. As a result, investors should be aware that UNL would meet its investment
objective even if there are significant deviations between changes in its daily NAV and changes in the daily prices of the Benchmark
Futures Contracts, provided that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV over 30 successive valuation days is within
plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the
same period.
What are the “Benchmark
Futures Contracts”?
The Benchmark
Futures Contracts are the futures contracts on natural gas as traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”)
that are the near month contract to expire, and the contracts for the following 11 months, for a total of 12 consecutive months’
contracts, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case they are measured by the futures
contracts that are the next month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 consecutive months. When calculating
the daily movement of the average price of the 12 contracts, each contract month is equally weighted.
UNL seeks
to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in futures contracts for natural gas that are traded on the NYMEX,
ICE Futures Europe and ICE Futures U.S. (together, “ICE Futures”), or other U.S. and foreign exchanges (collectively,
“Futures Contracts”), and to a lesser extent, in order to comply with regulatory requirements, risk mitigation measures
(including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s futures commission merchants (“FCMs”), counterparties or other
market participants), liquidity requirements, or in view of market conditions, other natural gas-related investments such as cash-settled
options on Futures Contracts, forward contracts for natural gas, cleared swap contracts and non-exchange traded (“over-the-counter”
or “OTC”) transactions that are based on the price of natural gas, crude oil and other petroleum-based fuels, as well
as futures contracts for crude oil, heating oil, gasoline, and other petroleum-based fuels, Futures Contracts and indices based
on the foregoing (collectively, “Other Natural Gas-Related Investments”). Market conditions that USCF currently anticipates
could cause UNL to invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments include, but are not limited to, those allowing UNL to obtain
greater liquidity or to execute transactions with more favorable pricing. For convenience and unless otherwise specified, Futures
Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments collectively are referred to as “Natural Gas Interests” in this
prospectus.
USCF
believes that market arbitrage opportunities will cause daily changes in UNL’s share price on the NYSE Arca on a percentage
basis to closely track daily changes in UNL’s per share NAV on a percentage basis. USCF further believes that the daily
changes in average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts have historically tracked the daily changes in the spot price
of natural gas. USCF believes that the net effect of these two expected relationships will be that the daily changes in the price
of UNL’s shares on the NYSE Arca on a percentage basis will closely track the daily changes in the spot price of natural
gas on a percentage basis, plus interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, less UNL’s expenses.
Investors
should be aware that UNL’s investment objective is not for its NAV or market price of shares to equal, in dollar
terms, the spot price of natural gas or any particular futures contract based on natural gas, nor is UNL’s investment
objective for the percentage change in its NAV to reflect the percentage change of the price of any particular futures contract
as measured over a time period greater than one day. This is because natural market forces called contango and backwardation
may impact and have impacted the total return on an investment in UNL’s shares relative to a hypothetical direct investment
in natural gas and, in the future, it is likely that the relationship between the market price of UNL’s shares and changes
in the spot prices of natural gas will continue to be impacted by contango and backwardation. (It is important to note that the
disclosure above ignores the potential costs associated with physically owning and storing natural gas, which could be substantial.)
Principal Investment Risks
of an Investment in UNL
An investment
in UNL involves a degree of risk. Some of the risks you may face are summarized below. A more extensive discussion of these risks
appears beginning on page 7.
Investment Risk
Investors
may choose to use UNL as a means of investing indirectly in natural gas. INVESTING IN UNL INVOLVES RISKS SIMILAR TO THOSE INVOLVED
WITH AN INVESTMENT DIRECTLY IN THE NATURAL GAS MARKET, BUT IT IS NOT A PROXY FOR TRADING DIRECTLY IN THE NATURAL GAS MARKETS.
Investing in UNL also involves the correlation risk described below and other significant risks. You should carefully consider
the risks described below before making an investment decision. An investment in UNL includes the following investment risks:
| · | The
NAV of UNL’s shares relates directly to daily changes in the average of the prices
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other assets held by UNL and fluctuations in the
prices of these assets could materially adversely affect an investment in UNL’s
shares. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results; all or substantially
all of an investment in UNL could be lost. |
| · | The
demand for natural gas correlates closely with general economic growth rates. |
| · | Other
factors that may affect the demand for natural gas and therefore its price, include technological
improvements in energy efficiency; seasonal weather patterns, which affect the demand
for natural gas associated with heating; increased competitiveness of alternative energy
sources that have so far generally not been competitive with natural gas without the
benefit of government subsidies or mandates; and changes in technology or consumer preferences
that alter fuel choices, such as toward alternative fueled or electric transportation
and broad-based changes in personal income levels. |
| · | Natural
gas prices also vary depending on a number of factors affecting supply and demand of
natural gas, including geopolitical risk associated with wars, terrorist acts and tensions
between countries. |
| · | The
supply of and demand for natural gas may also be impacted by changes in interest rates,
inflation, and other local or regional market conditions, as well as by the development
of alternative energy sources. |
| · | Price
volatility may possibly cause the total loss of your investment. |
| · | Natural
disasters, public health disruptions (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), and international
armed conflicts could impact the price of commodities and/or the value, pricing and liquidity
of UNL’s investments or assets which, in turn, could cause the loss of your investment
in UNL. |
| · | Historical
performance of UNL and the Benchmark Futures Contracts is not indicative of future performance. |
Correlation Risk
As further
described below, an investment in UNL includes the following correlation risks:
| · | An
investment in UNL may provide little or no diversification benefits. Thus, in a declining
market, UNL may have no gains to offset losses from other investments, and an investor
may suffer losses on an investment in UNL while incurring losses with respect to other
asset classes. |
| · | The
market price at which investors buy or sell shares may be significantly less or more
than NAV. |
| · | Daily
percentage changes in UNL’s NAV may not correlate with daily percentage changes
in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. |
| · | Daily
percentage changes in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts may not correlate
with daily percentage changes in the spot price of natural gas. |
| · | An
investment in UNL is not a proxy for investing in the natural gas markets, and the daily
percentage changes in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, or the NAV of UNL,
may not correlate with daily percentage changes in the spot price of natural gas. |
| · | Natural
forces in the natural gas futures market known as “backwardation” and “contango”
may increase UNL’s tracking error and/or negatively impact total return. |
| · | Accountability
levels, position limits, and daily price fluctuation limits set by the exchanges have
the potential to cause tracking error by limiting UNL’s investments, including
its ability to fully invest in the Benchmark Futures Contracts, which means that changes
in the price of shares could substantially vary from changes in the average of the prices
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. |
| · | Risk
mitigation measures that could be imposed by UNL’s FCMs have the potential to cause
tracking error by limiting UNL’s investments, including its ability to fully invest
in the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts, which means that changes
in the price of UNL’s shares could substantially vary from changes in the prices
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. |
To the
extent that investors use UNL as a means of indirectly investing in natural gas, there is the risk that the daily changes in the
price of UNL’s shares on the NYSE Arca on a percentage basis will not closely track the daily changes in the spot price
of natural gas on a percentage basis. This could happen if the price of shares traded on the NYSE Arca does not correlate closely
with the value of UNL’s NAV; the changes in UNL’s NAV do not correlate closely with the changes in the average price
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts; or the changes in the average price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts do not closely correlate
with the changes in the cash or spot price of natural gas. This is a risk because if these correlations do not exist, then investors
may not be able to use UNL as a cost-effective way to indirectly invest in natural gas or as a hedge against the risk of loss
in natural gas-related transactions.
USCF
believes that holding futures contracts whose expiration dates are spread out over a 12 month period of time will cause the total
return of such a portfolio to vary compared to a portfolio that holds only a single month’s contract (such as the near month
contract). In particular, USCF believes that the total return of a portfolio holding contracts with a range of expiration months
will be impacted differently by the price relationship between different contract months of the same commodity future compared
to the total return of a portfolio consisting of the near month contract. For example, in cases in which the near month contract’s
price is higher than the price of contracts that expire later in time (a situation known as “backwardation” in the
futures markets), then absent the impact of the overall movement in natural gas prices, the value of the near month contract would
tend to rise as it approaches expiration. Conversely, in cases in which the near month contract’s price is lower than the
price of contracts that expire later in time (a situation known as “contango” in the futures markets), then absent
the impact of the overall movement in natural gas prices, the value of the near month contract would tend to decline as it approaches
expiration. The total return of a portfolio that owned the near month contract and “rolled” forward each month by
selling the near month contract as it approached expiration and purchasing the next month contract to expire would be positively
impacted by a backwardation market, and negatively impacted by a contango market. Depending on the exact price relationship of
the different month’s prices, portfolio expenses, and the overall movement of natural gas prices, the impact of backwardation
and contango could have a major impact on the total return of such a portfolio over time. USCF believes that based on historical
evidence, a portfolio that held futures contracts with a range of expiration dates spread out over a 12 month period of time would
typically be impacted less by the positive effect of backwardation and the negative effect of contango compared to a portfolio
that held contracts of a single near month. As a result, absent the impact of any other factors, a portfolio of 12 different monthly
contracts would tend to have a lower total return than a near month only portfolio in a backwardation market and a higher total
return in a contango market. However, there can be no assurance that such historical relationships would provide the same or similar
results in the future.
Volatility
in the natural gas market could limit UNL’s ability to have a substantial portion of its assets invested in the Benchmark
Futures Contracts. In such a circumstance, UNL could, if it determined it appropriate to do so in light of market conditions and
regulatory requirements, invest in other Futures Contracts and/or Other Natural Gas-Related Investments.
Tax Risk
UNL is
organized and operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of its limited partnership agreement (the “LP
Agreement”) and applicable state law, and therefore, has a more complex tax treatment than conventional mutual funds. An
investment in UNL includes the following tax risks:
| · | An
investor’s tax liability may exceed the amount of distributions, if any, on its
shares. |
| · | An
investor’s allocable share of taxable income or loss may differ from economic income
or loss on the shares. |
| · | Items
of income, gain, deduction, loss and credit with respect to shares could be reallocated
for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and UNL could be liable for U.S. federal income
tax, if the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) does not accept the assumptions
and conventions applied by UNL in allocating those items, with potential adverse consequences
for an investor. |
| · | UNL
could be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which may substantially
reduce the value of the shares. |
| · | UNL
is organized and operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions
of the LP Agreement and applicable state law, and therefore, UNL has a more complex tax
treatment than traditional mutual funds. |
| · | If
UNL is required to withhold tax with respect to any non-U.S. shareholders, the cost of
such withholding may be borne by all shareholders. |
| · | The
impact of changes in U.S. federal income tax laws on UNL is uncertain. |
Over-the-Counter (“OTC”)
Contract Risk
UNL may
also invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, many of which are negotiated over-the-counter or “OTC” contracts
that are not as liquid as Futures Contracts and expose UNL to credit risk that its counterparty may not be able to satisfy its
obligations to UNL. An investment in UNL includes the following OTC contract risks:
| · | UNL
will be subject to credit risk with respect to counterparties to OTC contracts entered
into by UNL. |
| · | Valuing
OTC derivatives may be less certain than valuing exchange-traded and/or cleared financial
instruments. |
Other Risks
UNL pays
fees and expenses that are incurred regardless of whether UNL is profitable.
Unlike
mutual funds, commodity pools or other investment pools that manage their investments in an attempt to realize income and gains
and distribute such income and gains to their investors, UNL generally does not distribute cash to shareholders. You should not
invest in UNL if you will need cash distributions from UNL to pay taxes on your share of income and gains of UNL, if any, or for
any other reason.
You will
have no rights to participate in the management of UNL and will have to rely on the duties and judgment of USCF to manage UNL.
UNL is
subject to actual and potential inherent conflicts involving USCF, various commodity futures brokers and “Authorized Participants,”
the institutional firms that directly purchase and redeem shares in baskets. USCF’s officers, directors and employees do
not devote their time exclusively to UNL. USCF’s personnel are directors, officers or employees of other entities that may
compete with UNL for their services, including the Related Public Funds that USCF manages. USCF could have a conflict between
its responsibilities to UNL and to those other entities. As a result of these and other relationships, parties involved with UNL
have a financial incentive to act in a manner other than in the best interests of UNL and the shareholders.
In addition,
an investment in UNL includes the following other risks:
| · | UNL
is not leveraged, but it could become leveraged if it had insufficient assets to completely
meet its margin or collateral requirements relating to its investments. |
| · | UNL
may temporarily limit the offering of Creation Baskets. |
| · | Certain
of UNL’s investments could be illiquid, which could cause large losses to investors
at any time or from time to time. |
| · | UNL
is not actively managed and its investment objective is to track the Benchmark Futures
Contracts so that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV for any period
of 30 successive valuation days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average
daily percentage change in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same
period. |
| · | UNL
may not meet the listing standards of NYSE Arca, which would adversely impact an investor’s
ability to sell shares. |
| · | The
NYSE Arca may halt trading in UNL’s shares, which would adversely impact an investor’s
ability to sell shares. |
| · | The
liquidity of UNL’s shares may also be affected by the withdrawal from participation
of Authorized Participants, which could adversely affect the market price of the shares. |
| · | Shareholders
that are not Authorized Participants may only purchase or sell their shares in secondary
trading markets, and the conditions associated with trading in secondary markets may
adversely affect investors’ investment in the shares. |
| · | The
lack of an active trading market for UNL’s shares may result in losses on an investor’s
investment in UNL at the time the investor sells the shares. |
| · | Limited
partners and shareholders do not participate in the management of UNL and do not control
USCF, so they do not have any influence over basic matters that affect UNL. |
| · | Limited
partners may have limited liability in certain circumstances, including potentially having
liability for the return of wrongful distributions. |
| · | USCF’s
LLC Agreement provides limited authority to the Non-Management Directors, and any Director
of USCF may be removed by USCF’s parent company, which is wholly owned by The Marygold
Companies, Inc., a controlled public company where the majority of shares are owned by
Nicholas D. Gerber along with certain of his family members and certain other shareholders. |
| · | There
is a risk that UNL will not earn trading gains sufficient to compensate for the fees
and expenses that it must pay and as such UNL may not earn any profit. |
| · | UNL
is subject to extensive regulatory reporting and compliance. |
| · | Regulatory
changes or actions, including the implementation of new legislation, are impossible to
predict but may significantly and adversely affect UNL. |
| · | UNL
is not a registered investment company so shareholders do not have the protections of
the 1940 Act. |
| · | Trading
in international markets could expose UNL to credit and regulatory risk. |
| · | UNL
and USCF may have conflicts of interest, which may permit them to favor their own interests
to the detriment of shareholders. |
| · | UNL
could terminate at any time and cause the liquidation and potential loss of an investor’s
investment and could upset the overall maturity and timing of an investor’s investment
portfolio. |
| · | UNL
does not expect to make cash distributions. |
| · | An
unanticipated number of Redemption Basket requests during a short period of time could
have an adverse effect on UNL’s NAV. |
| · | The
suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants to purchase Creation Baskets could
cause UNL’s NAV to differ materially from its trading price. |
| · | UNL
may determine that, to allow it to reinvest the proceeds from sales of its Creation Baskets
in currently permitted assets in a manner that meets its investment objective, it may
limit or suspend its offers of Creation Baskets. |
| · | UNL
may be subject to interest rate risk, which may prevent UNL from investing fully at prevailing
rates until any current investments in Treasuries mature in order to avoid selling those
investments at a loss. |
| · | As
inflation increases, the present value of UNL’s assets may decline. |
| · | UNL
may potentially lose money by investing in government money market funds. |
| · | The
failure or bankruptcy of a clearing broker could result in a substantial loss of UNL’s
assets and could impair UNL in its ability to execute trades. |
| · | The
failure or bankruptcy of UNL’s Custodian could result in a substantial loss of
UNL’s assets. |
| · | Competing
claims of intellectual property rights may adversely affect UNL and an investment in
UNL’s shares. |
| · | Due
to the increased use of technologies, intentional and unintentional cyber-attacks pose
operational and information security risks. |
| · | UNL’s
investment returns could be negatively affected by climate change and greenhouse gas
restrictions. |
| · | USCF
is the subject of class action, derivative, and other litigation. In light of the inherent
uncertainties involved in litigation matters, an adverse outcome in this litigation could
materially adversely affect USCF’s financial condition. |
UNL’s Fees and Expenses
This
table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of UNL. You should note that you may pay brokerage
commissions on purchases and sales of UNL’s shares, which are not reflected in the table. Authorized Participants will pay
applicable creation and redemption fees. See “Creation and Redemption of Shares—Creation and Redemption
Transaction Fee,” page 72.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year
as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees | |
| 0.60 | %(1) |
Other Expenses | |
| 1.42 | %(2) |
Net Expenses Excluding Management Fees | |
| 0.97 | % |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver | |
| 1.57 | % |
| |
| | |
| (1) | UNL
is contractually obligated to pay USCF a management fee equal to 0.60% per annum, which
is based on its average daily total net assets and paid monthly. |
| (2) | Based
on amounts for the year ended December 31, 2024. The individual expense amounts in dollar
terms are shown in the table below. As used in this table, (i) Professional Expenses
include expenses for legal, audit, tax, accounting and printing; and (ii) Independent
Director and Officer Expenses include amounts paid to independent directors and for officers’
liability insurance. |
The table
below shows the total dollar amount of fees and expenses paid by UNL for the year ended December 31, 2024:
Management Fees | |
$ | 117,177 | (1) |
Brokerage Commissions | |
$ | 8,179 | |
Professional Expenses | |
$ | 235,573 | |
License Fees | |
$ | 4,286 | |
Independent Director and Officer Expenses | |
$ | 9,867 | |
Registration Fees | |
$ | 0 | |
| |
| | |
| (1) | UNL
paid USCF a management fee equal to 0.75% per annum through April 30, 2024, after which
it was reduced to 0.60% per annum. |
These amounts are based
on UNL’s average total net assets, which are the sum of daily total net assets of UNL divided by the number of calendar
days in the year. For the year ended December 31, 2024, UNL’s average daily total net assets were $18,119,892.
RISK
FACTORS INVOLVED WITH AN INVESTMENT IN UNL
You
should consider carefully the risks described below before making an investment decision. You should also refer to the other information
included in this prospectus as well as information found in our periodic reports, which include UNL’s financial statements
and the related notes, that are incorporated by reference. See “Incorporation by Reference of Certain Information,”
page 75.
UNL’s
investment objective is for the daily percentage changes in the NAV per share to reflect the daily percentage changes of the spot
price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana as measured by the daily percentage changes in the average of the prices
of 12 futures contracts on natural gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”), consisting of the
near month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 months, for a total of 12 consecutive months’ contracts,
except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration, in which case it will be measured by the futures contract
that is the next month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 consecutive months (the “Benchmark Futures
Contracts”), plus interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, less UNL’s expenses. When calculating the daily
movement of the average price of the 12 contracts, each contract month is equally weighted. UNL seeks to achieve its investment
objective by investing so that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation
days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the prices of the Benchmark Futures
Contracts over the same period. UNL’s investment strategy is designed to provide investors with a cost-effective way to
invest indirectly in natural gas and to hedge against movements in the spot price of natural gas. As a result, investors should
be aware that UNL would meet its investment objective even if there are significant deviations between changes in its daily NAV
and changes in the daily prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, provided that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s
NAV over 30 successive valuation days is within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the prices
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period.
An investment
in UNL involves investment risk similar to a direct investment in Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments,
but it is not a proxy for investing in the natural gas markets. Investing in UNL also involves correlation risk, or the risk that
investors purchasing shares to hedge against movements in the price of natural gas will have an efficient hedge only if the price
they pay for their shares closely correlates with the price of natural gas. In addition to investment risk and correlation risk,
an investment in UNL involves tax risks, OTC risks, and other risks.
Investment Risk
The
NAV of UNL’s shares relates directly to daily changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts and
other assets held by UNL and fluctuations in the prices of these assets could materially adversely affect an investment in UNL’s
shares. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results; all or substantially all of an investment in UNL could
be lost.
The net
assets of UNL consist primarily of investments in Futures Contracts and, to a lesser extent, in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments.
The NAV of UNL’s shares relates directly to the value of these assets (less liabilities, including accrued but unpaid expenses),
which in turn relates to the price of natural gas in the marketplace. Natural gas prices depend on local, regional, and global
events or conditions that affect supply and demand for natural gas.
Economic
conditions impacting natural gas. The demand for natural gas correlates closely with general economic growth rates. The
occurrence of recessions or other periods of low or negative economic growth will typically have a direct adverse impact on natural
gas demand and, therefore, may have an adverse impact on natural gas prices. Other factors
that affect general economic conditions in the world or in a major region, such as changes in population growth rates, periods
of civil unrest, military conflicts, war (such as the Russia-Ukraine war), pandemics (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic), government
austerity programs, trade wars between nations, or currency exchange rate fluctuations, can also impact the demand for natural
gas. Sovereign debt downgrades, defaults, inability to access debt markets due to credit or legal constraints, liquidity crises,
the breakup or restructuring of fiscal, monetary, or political systems such as the European Union, and other events or conditions
that impair the functioning of financial markets and institutions also may adversely impact the demand for natural gas.
Other
natural gas demand-related factors. Other factors that may affect the demand for natural gas and therefore its price,
include technological improvements in energy efficiency; seasonal weather patterns, which affect the demand for natural gas associated
with heating; increased competitiveness of alternative energy sources that have so far generally not been competitive with natural
gas without the benefit of government subsidies or mandates; and changes in technology or consumer preferences that alter fuel
choices, such as toward alternative fueled vehicles or electric transportation and broad-based changes in personal income levels.
Other
natural gas supply-related factors. Natural gas prices also vary depending on a number of factors affecting supply, including
geopolitical risk associated with wars (such as the Russia-Ukraine war), terrorist attacks and tensions between countries, including
sanctions imposed as a result of the foregoing, or trade wars, any of which can adversely affect natural gas trade flows by limiting
or disrupting trade between countries or regions. Natural gas supply levels can also be affected by other factors that reduce
available supplies, such as natural disasters, disruptions in competitors’ operations, or unexpected unavailability of distribution
channels. Technological change can also alter the relative costs for companies in the natural gas industry to find, produce, and
transport natural gas, which in turn may affect the supply of and demand for natural gas. For example, increased supply from the
development of new natural gas sources and technologies to enhance recovery from existing sources tends to reduce natural gas
prices to the extent such supply increases are not offset by commensurate growth in demand. Similarly, increases in industry refining
or manufacturing capacity may impact the supply of natural gas.
Other
factors impacting the natural gas market. The supply of and demand for natural gas may also be impacted by changes in
interest rates, inflation, and other local or regional market conditions, as well as by the development of alternative energy
sources.
Price
volatility may possibly cause the total loss of your investment.
Futures
contracts have a high degree of price variability and are subject to occasional rapid and substantial changes. Consequently, you
could lose all or substantially all of your investment in UNL.
Market
volatility is attributable to things like the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain disruptions, war (such as the Russia-Ukraine
war), continuing disputes among natural gas-producing countries, the introduction of or changes in tariffs or trade barriers,
and trade wars between nations. Events such as these, and others, could cause volatility in the future, which may affect the value,
pricing and liquidity of some investments or other assets, including those held by or invested in by UNL and the impact of which
could limit UNL’s ability to have a substantial portion of its assets invested in the Benchmark Futures Contracts. In such
a circumstance, UNL could, if it determined it appropriate to do so in light of market conditions and regulatory requirements,
invest in other Futures Contracts and/or Other Natural-Gas Related Investments.
Natural
disasters, public health disruptions (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), and international armed conflicts could impact the price
of commodities and/or the value, pricing and liquidity of UNL’s investments or assets which, in turn, could cause the loss
of your investment in UNL.
Natural
or environmental disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and other severe weather-related phenomena
generally, and widespread disease, including public health disruptions, pandemics and epidemics (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic),
can be highly disruptive to economies and markets. Such events can, directly or indirectly, negatively impact, and/or cause volatility
in, the price of commodities such as natural gas and the value, pricing, and liquidity of the investments or other assets held
by UNL.
Geopolitical
conflict, including war and armed conflicts (such as the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the Middle East, and the expansion of
such conflicts in surrounding areas), sanctions, the introduction of or changes in tariffs or trade barriers, global or local
recessions, and acts of terrorism, can also, directly or indirectly, negatively impact, and/or cause volatility in, the price
of commodities such as natural gas and the value, pricing, and liquidity of the investments or other assets held by UNL.
A negative
impact on, or volatility in, the price of natural gas or the value, pricing and liquidity of UNL’s investments or other
assets resulting from the occurrence of any of the aforementioned events, or similar events, could cause you to lose all, or substantially
all, of your investment in UNL.
Historical
performance of UNL and the Benchmark Futures Contracts is not indicative of future performance.
Past
performance of UNL or the Benchmark Futures Contracts is not necessarily indicative of future results. Therefore, past performance
of UNL or the Benchmark Futures Contracts should not be relied upon in deciding whether to buy shares of UNL.
Correlation Risk
An
investment in UNL may provide little or no diversification benefits. Thus, in a declining market, UNL may have no gains to offset
losses from other investments, and an investor may suffer losses on an investment in UNL while incurring losses with respect to
other asset classes.
Investors
purchasing shares to hedge against movements in the price of natural gas will have an efficient hedge only if the price investors
pay for their shares closely correlates with the price of natural gas. Investing in UNL’s shares for hedging purposes includes
the following risks:
| · | The
market price at which the investor buys or sells shares may be significantly less or
more than NAV. |
| · | Daily
percentage changes in NAV may not closely correlate with daily percentage changes in
the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. |
| · | Daily
percentage changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts may
not closely correlate with daily percentage changes in the price of natural gas. |
Historically,
Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments have generally been non-correlated to the performance of other asset
classes such as stocks and bonds. Non-correlation means that there is a low statistically valid relationship between the performance
of futures and other commodity interest transactions, on the one hand, and stocks or bonds, on the other hand.
However,
there can be no assurance that such non-correlation will continue during future periods. If, contrary to historic patterns, UNL’s
performance were to move in the same general direction as the financial markets, investors will obtain little or no diversification
benefits from an investment in UNL’s shares. In such a case, UNL may have no gains to offset losses from other investments,
and investors may suffer losses on their investment in UNL at the same time they incur losses with respect to other investments.
Variables
such as drought, floods, weather, military conflicts, pandemics (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), embargoes, tariffs and other
political events may have a larger impact on natural gas prices and natural gas-linked instruments, including Futures Contracts
and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, than on traditional securities. These additional variables may create additional investment
risks that subject UNL’s investments to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities.
Non-correlation
should not be confused with negative correlation, where the performance of two asset classes would be opposite of each other.
There is no historical evidence that the spot price of natural gas and prices of other financial assets, such as stocks and bonds,
are negatively correlated. In the absence of negative correlation, UNL cannot be expected to be automatically profitable during
unfavorable periods for the stock market, or vice versa.
The
market price at which investors buy or sell shares may be significantly less or more than NAV.
UNL’s
NAV per share will change throughout the day as fluctuations occur in the market value of UNL’s portfolio investments. The
public trading price at which an investor buys or sells shares during the day from their broker may be different from the NAV
of the shares, which is also the price shares can be redeemed with UNL by Authorized Participants in Redemption Baskets. Generally,
price differences may relate to supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for shares that are closely related
to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of natural gas and the Benchmark Futures Contracts at any point
in time. USCF expects that exploitation of certain arbitrage opportunities by Authorized Participants and their clients will tend
to cause the public trading price to track NAV per share closely over time, but there can be no assurance of that. For example,
a shortage of UNL shares in the market and other factors could cause UNL’s shares to trade at a premium. Investors should
be aware that such premiums can be transitory. To the extent an investor purchases shares that include a premium (e.g., because
of a shortage of shares in the market due to the inability of Authorized Participants to purchase additional shares from UNL that
could be resold into the market) and the cause of the premium no longer exists causing the premium to disappear (e.g., because
more shares are available for purchase from UNL by Authorized Participants that could be resold into the market) such investor’s
return on its investment would be adversely impacted due to the loss of the premium.
The NAV
of UNL’s shares may also be influenced by non-concurrent trading hours between the NYSE Arca and the various futures exchanges
on which natural gas is traded. While the shares trade on the NYSE Arca from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the trading
hours for the futures exchanges on which natural gas trades may not necessarily coincide during all of this time. For example,
while the shares trade on the NYSE Arca until 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, liquidity in the global natural gas market will be reduced
after the close of the NYMEX at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. UNL’s NAV is calculated based on the settlement price of the Benchmark
Futures Contracts at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and the closing share price of UNL on the NYSE Arca taking into account changes in
the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts that occur after the settlement price is determined. As a result, during periods
when the NYSE Arca is open and the futures exchanges on which natural gas is traded are closed, trading spreads and the resulting
premium or discount on the shares may widen and, therefore, increase the difference between the price of the shares and the NAV
of the shares.
Daily
percentage changes in UNL’s NAV may not correlate with daily percentage changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark
Futures Contracts.
It is
possible that the daily percentage changes in UNL’s NAV per share may not closely correlate to daily percentage changes
in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. Non-correlation may be attributable to disruptions in the market
for natural gas, the imposition of position or accountability limits by regulators or exchanges, or other extraordinary circumstances.
As UNL approaches or reaches position limits with respect to the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts or in
view of market conditions, regulatory requirements, risk mitigation measures (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s
FCMs, counterparties or other market participants), and other conditions described herein UNL may begin investing in Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments.
In addition,
UNL is not able to replicate exactly the changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts because the total return generated
by UNL is reduced by expenses and transaction costs, including those incurred in connection with UNL’s trading activities,
and increased by interest income from UNL’s holdings of Treasuries (defined below).
Daily
percentage changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts may not correlate with daily percentage changes
in the spot price of natural gas.
The correlation
between changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts and the spot price of natural gas may at times
be only approximate. The degree of imperfection of correlation depends upon circumstances such as variations in the speculative
natural gas market, supply of and demand for Futures Contracts (including the Benchmark Futures Contracts) and Other Natural Gas-Related
Investments, and technical influences in natural gas futures trading.
An
investment in UNL is not a proxy for investing in the natural gas markets, and the daily percentage changes in the price of the
Benchmark Futures Contracts, or the NAV of UNL, may not correlate with daily percentage changes in the spot price of natural gas.
An investment
in UNL is not a proxy for investing in the natural gas markets. To the extent that investors use UNL as a means of indirectly
investing in natural gas, there is the risk that the daily changes in the price of UNL’s shares on the NYSE Arca, on a percentage
basis, will not closely track the daily changes in the spot price of natural gas on a percentage basis. This could happen if the
price of shares traded on the NYSE Arca does not correlate closely with the value of UNL’s NAV; the changes in UNL’s
NAV do not correlate closely with the changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts; or the changes in the price of
the Benchmark Futures Contracts do not closely correlate with the changes in the cash or spot price of natural gas. This is a
risk because if these correlations do not exist, then investors may not be able to use UNL as a cost-effective way to indirectly
invest in natural gas or as a hedge against the risk of loss in natural gas-related transactions. The degree of correlation among
UNL’s share price, the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts and the spot price of natural gas depends upon circumstances
such as variations in the speculative natural gas market, supply of and demand for Futures Contracts (including the Benchmark
Futures Contracts) and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, and technical influences on trading natural gas futures contracts.
Investors who are not experienced in investing in natural gas futures contracts or the factors that influence that market or speculative
trading in the natural gas markets and may not have the background or ready access to the types of information that investors
familiar with these markets may have and, as a result, may be at greater risk of incurring losses from trading in UNL shares than
such other investors with such experience and resources.
Natural
forces in the natural gas futures market known as “backwardation” and “contango” may increase UNL’s
tracking error and/or negatively impact total return.
UNL’s
Benchmark Futures Contracts is the near month contract to expire and 11 following months, which are changed to the next month
contract to expire and the 11 following months during one day each month. In the event of a natural gas futures market where near
month contracts trade at a higher price than next month to expire contracts, a situation described as “backwardation”
in the futures market, then absent the impact of the overall movement in natural gas prices the value of the Benchmark Futures
Contracts would tend to rise as it approaches expiration. Conversely, in the event of a natural gas futures market where near
month contracts trade at a lower price than next month contracts, a situation described as “contango” in the futures
market, then absent the impact of the overall movement in natural gas prices the value of the benchmark contracts would tend to
decline as it approaches expiration.
While
contango and backwardation are consistently present in trading in the futures markets, such conditions can be exacerbated by market
forces. For example, extraordinary market conditions in the crude oil markets, including “super contango” (a higher
level of contango arising from the overabundance of oil being produced and the limited availability of storage for such excess
supply), occurred in the crude oil futures markets in April 2020 due to oversupply of crude oil in the face of weak demand during
the COVID-19 pandemic when disputes among oil-producing countries regarding limitations on the production of oil also were occurring.
Volatility
in the natural gas market was also elevated, but it did not reach the same extreme levels as the volatility in the oil futures
market did. It is possible that the Benchmark Futures Contracts may experience periods of super contango or negative prices in
the future. In any such circumstance, UNL could, if it determined it appropriate to do so in light of market conditions and regulatory
requirements, invest in other Futures Contracts and/or Other Natural Gas-Related Investments.
When
compared to the total return of other price indices, such as the spot price of natural gas, the impact of backwardation and contango
may cause the total return of UNL’s per share NAV to vary significantly. Moreover, absent the impact of rising or falling
natural gas prices, a prolonged period of contango could have a significant negative impact on UNL’s per share NAV and total
return and investors could lose part or all of their investment.
See “Additional
Information About UNL, its Investment Objective and Investments” for a discussion of the potential effects of contango and
backwardation.
Accountability
levels, position limits, and daily price fluctuation limits set by the exchanges have the potential to cause tracking error by
limiting UNL’s investments, including its ability to fully invest in the Benchmark Futures Contracts, which means that changes
in the price of shares could substantially vary from the changes in the average prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
Designated
contract markets, such as the NYMEX and ICE Futures, have established accountability levels and position limits on the maximum
net long or net short futures contracts in commodity interests that any person or group of persons under common trading control
(other than as a hedge, which an investment by UNL is not) may hold, own or control. These levels and position limits apply to
the futures contracts that UNL invests in to meet its investment objective. In addition to accountability levels and position
limits, the NYMEX and ICE Futures may also set daily price limits on futures contracts. The daily price fluctuation limit establishes
the maximum amount that the price of a futures contract may vary either up or down from the previous day’s settlement price.
Once the daily price fluctuation limit has been reached in a particular futures contract, no trades may be made at a price beyond
that limit.
The accountability
levels for the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts traded on U.S.-based futures exchanges, such as the NYMEX,
are not a fixed ceiling, but rather a threshold above which the NYMEX may exercise greater scrutiny and control over an investor’s
positions. The current accountability level for investments for any one-month in the Benchmark Futures Contracts is 6,000 contracts.
In addition, the NYMEX imposes an accountability level for all months of 12,000 net futures contracts for natural gas. In addition,
ICE Futures maintains accountability levels, position limits and monitoring authority for its futures contracts for natural gas.
If UNL and the Related Public Funds exceed these accountability levels for investments in the futures contracts for natural gas,
the NYMEX and ICE Futures will monitor such exposure and may ask for further information on UNL’s and the Related Public
Funds’ activities, including the total size of all positions, investment and trading strategy, and the extent of liquidity
resources of UNL and the Related Public Funds. If deemed necessary by the NYMEX and/or ICE Futures, UNL could be required to reduce
its aggregate position back to the accountability level.
Position
limits differ from accountability levels in that they represent fixed limits on the maximum number of futures contracts that any
person may hold and cannot be exceeded without express CFTC authority to do so. In addition to accountability levels and position
limits that may apply at any time, the NYMEX and ICE Futures impose position limits on contracts held in the last few days of
trading in the near month contract to expire. It is unlikely that UNL will run up against such position limits because of UNL’s
investment strategy. UNL’s investment strategy is to invest in 12 consecutive months of futures contracts on natural gas
as traded on the NYMEX, comprised of the near month contract to expire and the contracts for the following 11 months. UNL “rolls”
the near-month futures contracts in its portfolio when the near month futures contract is within two weeks of expiration.
Part
150 of the CFTC’s regulations (the “Position Limits Rule”) establishes federal position limits for 25 core referenced
futures contracts (comprised of agricultural, energy and metals futures contracts), futures and options linked to the core referenced
futures contracts, and swaps that are economically equivalent to the core referenced futures contracts that all market participants
must comply with, with certain exemptions.
The Benchmark
Futures Contracts are subject to position limits under the Position Limits Rule, and UNL’s trading does not qualify for
an exemption therefrom. Accordingly, the Position Limits Rule could inhibit UNL’s ability to invest in the Benchmark Futures
Contracts and thereby could negatively impact the ability of UNL to meet its investment objective.
UNL has
not limited the size of its offering and intends to utilize substantially all of its proceeds to purchase Benchmark Futures Contracts
and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments to the extent possible. If UNL encounters accountability levels, position limits (including
those set by the Position Limits Rule), or price fluctuation limits for the Benchmark Futures Contracts on the NYMEX or ICE Futures,
it may then, if permitted under applicable regulatory requirements, purchase the Benchmark Futures Contracts on other exchanges
that trade listed natural gas futures or enter into swaps or other permitted investments to meet its investment objective. In
addition, if UNL exceeds accountability levels on either the NYMEX or ICE Futures, and is required by such exchanges to reduce
its holdings, such reduction could potentially cause a tracking error between the price of UNL’s shares and the average
of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
Risk
mitigation measures that could be imposed by UNL’s FCMs have the potential to cause tracking error by limiting UNL’s
investments, including its ability to fully invest in the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts, which means
that changes in the price of UNL’s shares could substantially vary from changes in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
UNL’s
FCMs have discretion to impose limits on the positions that UNL may hold in the Benchmark Futures Contracts. To date, UNL’s
FCMs have not imposed any such limits. However, were UNL’s FCMs to impose limits, UNL’s ability to have a substantial
portion of its assets invested in the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts could be severely limited, which
could lead UNL to invest in other Futures Contracts or, potentially, Other Natural Gas-Related Investments. UNL could also have
to more frequently rebalance and adjust the types of holdings in its portfolio than is currently the case. This could inhibit
UNL from pursuing its investment objective in the same manner that it has historically and currently.
In addition,
when offering Creation Baskets for purchase, limitations imposed by exchanges and/or any of UNL’s FCMs could limit UNL’s
ability to invest the proceeds of the purchases of Creation Baskets in the Benchmark Futures Contracts and other Futures Contracts.
If this were the case, UNL may invest in other permitted investments, including Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, and may
hold larger amounts of Treasuries, cash and cash equivalents, which could impair UNL’s ability to meet its investment objective.
Tax Risk
An
investor’s tax liability may exceed the amount of distributions, if any, on its shares.
Cash
or property will be distributed at the sole discretion of USCF. USCF has not and does not currently intend to make cash or other
distributions with respect to shares. Investors will be required to pay U.S. federal income tax and, in some cases, state, local,
or foreign income tax, on their allocable share of UNL’s taxable income, without regard to whether they receive distributions
or the amount or value of any such distributions. Therefore, the tax liability of an investor with respect to its shares may exceed
the amount of cash or value of property (if any) distributed with respect to such shares.
An
investor’s allocable share of taxable income or loss may differ from economic income or loss on the shares.
Due to
the application of the assumptions and conventions applied by UNL in making allocations for U.S. federal income tax purposes and
other factors, an investor’s allocable share of UNL’s income, gain, deduction, loss, or credit may be different than
economic profit or loss from the shares for a taxable year. This difference could be temporary or permanent and, if permanent,
may subject an investor to tax on amounts in excess of its economic income.
Items
of income, gain, deduction, loss and credit with respect to shares could be reallocated for U.S. federal income tax purposes,
and UNL could be liable for U.S. federal income tax, if the IRS does not accept the assumptions and conventions applied by UNL
in allocating those items, with potential adverse consequences for an investor.
The U.S.
federal income tax rules pertaining to entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes are complex and their
application to large, publicly traded partnerships such as UNL is in many respects uncertain. UNL applies certain assumptions
and conventions in an attempt to comply with the intent of the applicable rules and to report taxable income, gains, deductions,
losses and credits in a manner that properly reflects shareholders’ economic gains and losses. It is possible that the IRS
could successfully challenge the application by UNL of these assumptions and conventions as not fully complying with all aspects
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations, which would
require UNL to reallocate items of income, gain, deduction, loss or credit in a manner that adversely affects investors. If this
occurs, investors may be required to file an amended U.S. federal income tax return and to pay additional taxes, plus deficiency
interest, and may be subject to penalties.
UNL may
be liable for U.S. federal income tax on any “imputed underpayment” of tax resulting from an adjustment as a result
of an IRS audit. The amount of the imputed underpayment generally includes increases in allocations of items of income or gain
to any investor and decreases in allocations of items of deduction, loss, or credit to any investor without any offset for corresponding
reductions in allocations of items of income or gain to any investor or increases in allocations of items of deduction, loss,
or credit to any investor. If UNL is required to pay any U.S. federal income taxes on any imputed underpayment, the resulting
tax liability would reduce the net assets of UNL and would likely have an adverse impact on the value of the shares. Under certain
circumstances, UNL may be eligible to make an election to cause the investors to take into account the amount of any imputed underpayment,
including any associated interest and penalties. The ability of a publicly traded partnership such as UNL to elect this treatment
is uncertain. If the election is made, UNL would be required to provide investors who owned beneficial interests in the shares
in the year to which the adjusted allocations relate with a statement setting forth their proportionate shares of the adjustment
(“Adjusted K-1s”). The investors would be required to take the adjustment into account in the taxable year in which
the Adjusted K-1s are issued.
UNL
could be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which may substantially reduce the value of the shares.
UNL has
received an opinion of counsel that, under current U.S. federal income tax laws, UNL will be treated as a partnership that is
not taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, provided that (i) at least 90 percent of UNL’s annual
gross income will be derived from (a) income and gains from commodities (not held as inventory) or futures, forwards, options,
swaps and other notional principal contracts with respect to commodities, and (b) interest income (“qualifying income”);
(ii) UNL is organized and operated in accordance with its governing agreements and applicable law; and (iii) UNL does not elect
to be taxed as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Although USCF anticipates that UNL has satisfied and will continue
to satisfy the qualifying income requirement for all taxable years, that result cannot be assured. UNL has not requested and will
not request any ruling from the IRS with respect to its classification as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If the IRS were to successfully assert that UNL is taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable
year, rather than passing through its income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits proportionately to its shareholders, UNL
would be subject to U.S. federal income tax imposed at corporate rates on its net income for the year. In addition, although USCF
does not currently intend to make distributions with respect to UNL shares, if UNL were treated as a corporation for U.S. federal
income tax purposes, any distributions made with respect to UNL shares would be taxable to shareholders as dividend income to
the extent of UNL’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Taxation of UNL as a corporation could materially reduce
the after-tax return on an investment in shares and could substantially reduce the value of the shares.
UNL
is organized and operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of the LP Agreement and applicable state
law, and therefore, UNL has a more complex tax treatment than traditional mutual funds.
UNL is
organized and operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of the LP Agreement and applicable state law
and is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. No U.S. federal income tax is paid by UNL on its income.
Instead, UNL will furnish shareholders each year with tax information on IRS Schedules K-1 and/or K-3 (Form 1065) and each U.S.
shareholder is required to report on its U.S. federal income tax return its allocable share of the income, gain, loss, deduction,
and credit of UNL.
These
amounts must be reported without regard to the amount of cash or value of property the shareholder receives (if any) as a distribution
from UNL during the taxable year. A shareholder, therefore, may be allocated income or gain by UNL but receive no cash distribution
with which to pay the tax liability resulting from the allocation, or may receive a distribution that is insufficient to pay such
liability.
In addition
to U.S. federal income taxes, shareholders may be subject to other taxes, such as state and local income taxes, unincorporated
business taxes, business franchise taxes and estate, inheritance or intangible taxes that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions
in which UNL does business or owns property or where the shareholders reside. Although an analysis of those various taxes is not
presented here, each prospective shareholder should consider their potential impact on its investment in UNL. It is each shareholder’s
responsibility to file the appropriate U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax returns.
If
UNL is required to withhold tax with respect to any non-U.S. shareholders, the cost of such withholding may be borne by all shareholders.
Under
certain circumstances, UNL may be required to pay withholding tax with respect to allocations to non-U.S. shareholders. Although
the LP Agreement provides that any such withholding will be treated as being distributed to the non-U.S. shareholder, UNL may
not be able to cause the economic cost of such withholding to be borne by the non-U.S. shareholder on whose behalf such amounts
were withheld since it does not generally expect to make any distributions. Under such circumstances, the economic cost of the
withholding may be borne by all shareholders, not just the shareholders on whose behalf such amounts were withheld. This could
have a material impact on the value of the shares.
The
impact of changes in U.S. federal income tax laws on UNL is uncertain.
In general,
legislative or other actions relating to U.S. federal income taxes could have a negative effect on UNL or its investors. Matters
pertaining to U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the
IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. The Trump Administration has proposed significant changes to the Code and existing U.S.
federal income tax regulations and there are a number of proposals in Congress that, if enacted, would similarly modify the Code.
The likelihood of any such legislation being enacted is uncertain, but new legislation and any U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative
interpretations or court decisions interpreting such legislation could result in adverse tax consequences to UNL and its investors.
Investors are urged to consult with their tax advisor with respect to the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative
developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in UNL shares.
OTC Contract Risk
UNL
will be subject to credit risk with respect to counterparties to OTC contracts entered into by UNL.
UNL faces
the risk of non-performance by the counterparties to its OTC contracts. Unlike in futures contracts, the counterparty to OTC contracts
is generally a single bank or other financial institution, rather than a clearing organization backed by a group of financial
institutions. As a result, there will be greater counterparty credit risk in these transactions. A counterparty may not be able
to meet its obligations to UNL, in which case UNL could suffer significant losses on these contracts. The two-way margining requirements
imposed by U.S. regulators are intended to mitigate this risk.
If a
counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations due to financial difficulties, UNL may experience
significant delays in obtaining recovery in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding. UNL may obtain only limited recovery
or may obtain no recovery in such circumstances.
UNL mitigates
these risks by typically entering into transactions only with major global financial institutions.
Valuing
OTC derivatives may be less certain than valuing exchange-traded and/or cleared financial instruments.
In general,
valuing OTC derivatives is less certain than valuing actively traded financial instruments such as exchange traded futures contracts
and securities or cleared swaps because, for OTC derivatives, the price and terms on which such OTC derivatives are entered into
or can be terminated are individually negotiated, and those prices and terms may not reflect the best price or terms available
from other sources. In addition, while market makers and dealers generally quote indicative prices or terms for entering into
or terminating OTC contracts, they typically are not contractually obligated to do so, particularly if they are not a party to
the transaction. As a result, it may be difficult to obtain an independent value for an outstanding OTC derivatives transaction.
Other Risks
UNL
is not leveraged, but it could become leveraged if it had insufficient assets to completely meet its margin or collateral requirements
relating to its investments.
Although
permitted to do so under its LP Agreement, UNL has not leveraged, and does not intend to leverage, its assets through borrowings
or otherwise, and UNL makes its investments accordingly. Consistent with the foregoing, UNL’s investments will take into
account the need for UNL to maintain adequate liquidity to meet its margin and collateral requirements and to avoid, to the extent
reasonably possible, UNL becoming leveraged. If market conditions require it, UNL may implement risk reduction procedures, which
may include changes to UNL’s investments, and such changes may occur on short notice.
UNL does
not and will not borrow money or use debt to satisfy its margin or collateral obligations in respect of its investments, but it
could become leveraged if UNL were to hold insufficient assets that would allow it to meet not only the current, but also future,
margin or collateral obligations required for such investments. Such a circumstance could occur if UNL were to hold assets that
have a value of less than zero.
USCF
endeavors to have the value of UNL’s Treasuries, cash and cash equivalents, whether held by UNL or posted as margin or other
collateral, at all times approximate the aggregate market value of its obligations under its Futures Contracts and Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments.
UNL
may temporarily limit the offering of Creation Baskets.
UNL may
determine to limit the issuance of its shares through the offering of Creation Baskets to its Authorized Participants in order
to allow it to reinvest the proceeds from sales of its Creation Baskets in currently permitted assets in a manner that meets its
investment objective.
UNL will
announce to the market through the filing of a Current Report on Form 8-K if it intends to limit the offering of Creation Baskets
at any time. In such case, orders for Creation Baskets will be considered for acceptance in the order they are received by UNL
and UNL would continue to accept requests for redemption of its shares from Authorized Participants through Redemption Baskets
during the period of the limited offering of Creation Baskets.
Certain
of UNL’s investments could be illiquid, which could cause large losses to investors at any time or from time to time.
Futures
positions cannot always be liquidated at the desired price. It is difficult to execute a trade at a specific price when there
is a relatively small volume of buy and sell orders in a market. A market disruption, such as war or a foreign government taking
political actions that disrupt the market for its currency, its natural gas production or exports, or another major export, can
also make it difficult to liquidate a position. Because both Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments may be
illiquid, UNL’s Natural Gas Interests may be more difficult to liquidate at favorable prices in periods of illiquid markets
and losses may be incurred during the period in which positions are being liquidated. The large size of the positions that UNL
may acquire increases the risk of illiquidity both by making its positions more difficult to liquidate and by potentially increasing
losses while trying to do so.
OTC contracts
that are not subject to clearing may be even less marketable than futures contracts because they are not traded on an exchange,
do not have uniform terms and conditions, and are entered into based upon the creditworthiness of the parties and the availability
of credit support, such as collateral, and in general, they are not transferable without the consent of the counterparty. These
conditions make such contracts less liquid than standardized futures contracts traded on an exchange and could adversely impact
UNL’s ability to realize the full value of such contracts. In addition, even if collateral is used to reduce counterparty
credit risk, sudden changes in the value of OTC transactions may leave a party open to financial risk due to a counterparty default
since the collateral held may not cover a party’s exposure on the transaction in such situations.
UNL
is not actively managed and its investment objective is to track the Benchmark Futures Contracts so that the average daily percentage
change in UNL’s NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average
daily percentage change in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period.
UNL is
not actively managed by conventional methods. Accordingly, if UNL’s investments in Natural Gas Interests are declining in
value, in the ordinary course, UNL will not close out such positions except in connection with paying the proceeds to an Authorized
Participant upon the redemption of a basket or closing out its positions in Futures Contracts and other permitted investments
(i) in connection with the monthly change in the Benchmark Futures Contracts; (ii) when UNL otherwise determines it would be appropriate
to do so, e.g., due to regulatory requirements or risk mitigation measures (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s
FCMs, counterparties or other market participants); or (iii) to avoid UNL becoming leveraged, and it reinvests the proceeds in
new Futures Contracts or Other Natural Gas-Related Investments to the extent possible. USCF will seek to cause the NAV of UNL’s
shares to track the Benchmark Futures Contracts during periods in which its price is flat or declining as well as when the price
is rising.
UNL’s
ability to invest in the Benchmark Futures Contracts could be limited as a result of any or all of the following: evolving market
conditions, a change in regulatory accountability levels and position limits imposed on UNL with respect to its investment in
Futures Contracts, additional or different risk mitigation measures taken by market participants, generally, including UNL, with
respect to UNL acquiring additional Futures Contracts, or UNL selling additional shares.
UNL
may not meet the listing standards of NYSE Arca, which would adversely impact an investor’s ability to sell shares.
NYSE
Arca may suspend UNL’s shares from trading on the exchange with or without prior notice to UNL, upon failure of UNL to comply
with the NYSE’s listing requirements, or when in its sole discretion, the NYSE Arca determines that such suspension of dealings
is in the public interest or otherwise warranted. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing
of UNL’s shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. If UNL were unable to meet the NYSE’s listing standards
and were to become delisted, an investor’s ability to sell its shares would be adversely impacted.
The
NYSE Arca may halt trading in UNL’s shares, which would adversely impact an investor’s ability to sell shares.
Trading
in shares may be halted due to market conditions or, in light of NYSE Arca rules and procedures, for reasons that, in the view
of the NYSE Arca, make trading in shares inadvisable. In addition, trading is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary
market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules that require trading to be halted for a specified period based
on a specified market decline.
The
liquidity of UNL’s shares may also be affected by the withdrawal from participation of Authorized Participants, which could
adversely affect the market price of the shares.
In the
event that one or more Authorized Participants which have substantial interests in the shares withdraw from participation, the
liquidity of UNL’s shares will likely decrease, which could adversely affect the market price of the shares and result in
investors incurring a loss on their investment.
Shareholders
that are not Authorized Participants may only purchase or sell their shares in secondary trading markets, and the conditions associated
with trading in secondary markets may adversely affect investors’ investment in the shares.
Only
Authorized Participants may directly purchase shares from, or redeem shares with, UNL through Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets,
respectively. All other investors that desire to purchase or sell shares must do so through NYSE Arca or in other markets, if
any, in which the shares may be traded. Shares may trade at a premium or discount relative to NAV per share.
The
lack of an active trading market for UNL’s shares may result in losses on an investor’s investment in UNL at the time
the investor sells the shares.
Although
UNL’s shares are listed and traded on the NYSE Arca, there can be no guarantee that an active trading market for the shares
will be maintained. If an investor needs to sell shares at a time when no active trading market for them exists, the price the
investor receives upon sale of the shares, assuming they were able to be sold, likely would be lower than if an active market
existed.
Limited
partners and shareholders do not participate in the management of UNL and do not control USCF, so they do not have any influence
over basic matters that affect UNL.
The limited
partners and shareholders take no part in the management or control, and have a minimal voice in, UNL’s operations and business.
Limited partners and shareholders must therefore rely upon the duties and judgment of USCF to manage UNL’s affairs. Limited
partners and shareholders have no right to elect USCF on an annual or any other continuing basis. If USCF voluntarily withdraws,
however, the holders of a majority of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding for purposes of such determination shares owned,
if any, by the withdrawing general partner and its affiliates) may elect its successor. USCF may not be removed as general partner
except upon approval by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3 percent of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding
shares, if any, owned by USCF and its affiliates), subject to satisfaction of certain conditions set forth in the LP Agreement.
Limited
partners may have limited liability in certain circumstances, including potentially having liability for the return of wrongful
distributions.
Under
Delaware law, a limited partner might be held liable for UNL’s obligations as if it were a general partner if the limited
partner participates in the control of the partnership’s business and the persons who transact business with the partnership
think the limited partner is the general partner.
A limited
partner will not be liable for assessments in addition to its initial capital investment in any of UNL’s shares. However,
a limited partner may be required to repay to UNL any amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to it under some circumstances.
Under Delaware law, UNL may not make a distribution to limited partners if the distribution causes UNL’s liabilities (other
than liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and nonrecourse liabilities) to exceed the fair value of
UNL’s assets. Delaware law provides that a limited partner who receives such a distribution and knew at the time of the
distribution that the distribution violated the law will be liable to the limited partnership for the amount of the distribution
for three years from the date of the distribution.
USCF’s
LLC Agreement provides limited authority to the Non-Management Directors, and any Director of USCF may be removed by USCF’s
parent company, which is wholly owned by The Marygold Companies, Inc., a controlled public company where the majority of shares
are owned by Nicholas D. Gerber along with certain of his family members and certain other shareholders.
USCF’s
Board of Directors currently consists of four Management Directors, who are also executive officers or employees of USCF, and
three Non-Management Directors, who are considered independent for purposes of applicable NYSE Arca and SEC rules. Under USCF’s
LLC Agreement, the Non-Management Directors have only such authority as the Management Directors expressly confer upon them, which
means that the Non-Management Directors may have less authority to control the actions of the Management Directors than is typically
the case with the independent members of a company’s Board of Directors. In addition, any Director may be removed by written
consent of USCF Investments, Inc. (“USCF Investments”), formerly Wainwright Holdings, Inc., which is the sole member
of USCF. The sole shareholder of USCF Investments is The Marygold Companies, Inc., formerly Concierge Technologies, Inc. (“Marygold”),
a company publicly traded under the ticker symbol “MGLD.” Mr. Nicholas D. Gerber, along with certain of his family
members and certain other shareholders, owns the majority of the shares in Marygold, which is the sole shareholder of USCF Investments,
the sole member of USCF. Accordingly, although USCF is governed by the USCF Board of Directors, which consists of both Management
Directors and Non-Management Directors, pursuant to the LLC Agreement, it is possible for Mr. Gerber to exercise his indirect
control of USCF Investments to effect the removal of any Director (including the Non-Management Directors which comprise the Audit
Committee) and to replace that Director with another Director. Having control in one person could have a negative impact on USCF
and UNL, including their regulatory obligations.
There
is a risk that UNL will not earn trading gains sufficient to compensate for the fees and expenses that it must pay and as such
UNL may not earn any profit.
UNL pays
brokerage charges of approximately 0.02% of average total net assets based on brokerage fees of $3.50 per buy or sell, management
fees of 0.60% of NAV on its average net assets, and OTC spreads and extraordinary expenses (e.g., subsequent offering expenses,
other expenses not in the ordinary course of business, including the indemnification of any person against liabilities and obligations
to the extent permitted by law and required under the LP Agreement and under agreements entered into by USCF on UNL’s behalf
and the bringing and defending of actions at law or in equity and otherwise engaging in the conduct of litigation and the incurring
of legal expenses and the settlement of claims and litigation) that cannot be quantified.
These
fees and expenses must be paid in all cases regardless of whether UNL’s activities are profitable. Accordingly, UNL must
earn trading gains sufficient to compensate for these fees and expenses before it can earn any profit.
UNL
is subject to extensive regulatory reporting and compliance.
UNL is
subject to a comprehensive scheme of regulation under U.S. federal commodities and securities laws. UNL could be subject to sanctions
for a failure to comply with those requirements, which could adversely affect its financial performance (in the case of financial
penalties) or ability to pursue its investment objective (in the case of a limitation on its ability to trade).
Because
UNL’s shares are publicly traded, UNL is subject to certain rules and regulations of federal, state and financial market
exchange entities charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded.
These entities include the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”), the SEC, the CFTC, the NFA, and
NYSE Arca, and these authorities have continued to develop additional regulations or interpretations of existing regulations.
UNL’s ongoing efforts to comply with these regulations and interpretations have resulted in, and are likely to continue
resulting in, a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance-related activities.
UNL is
responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. UNL’s internal control
system is designed to provide reasonable assurance to its management regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published
financial statements. All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those
systems determined to be effective may provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.
Regulatory
changes or actions, including the implementation of new legislation, are impossible to predict but may significantly and adversely
affect UNL.
The futures
markets are subject to comprehensive statutes, regulations, and margin requirements. Such statutes, regulations and requirements
are subject to ongoing modification by governmental and judicial action. This is particularly so whenever there is a change in
presidential administration, which can lead to changes in regulatory priorities and policy. The effect of any future regulatory
change on UNL is impossible to predict, but it could be substantial and adverse. In addition, the CFTC, SEC, futures exchanges,
and other entities are authorized to take extraordinary actions in the event of a market emergency including, for example, the
retroactive implementation of speculative position limits or higher margin requirements, the establishment of daily price limits
and the suspension of trading.
UNL
is not a registered investment company so shareholders do not have the protections of the 1940 Act.
UNL is
not an investment company subject to the 1940 Act. Accordingly, investors do not have the protections afforded by that statute,
which, for example, requires investment companies to have a majority of disinterested directors and regulates the relationship
between the investment company and its investment manager.
Trading
in international markets could expose UNL to credit and regulatory risk.
UNL invests
primarily in Futures Contracts, a significant portion of which are traded on United States exchanges, including the NYMEX. However,
a portion of UNL’s trades may take place on markets and exchanges outside the United States. Trading on such non-U.S. markets
or exchanges presents risks because such markets and exchanges may not be subject to the same degree of regulation as their U.S.
counterparts, including potentially different or diminished investor protections. In trading contracts denominated in currencies
other than U.S. dollars, UNL is subject to the risk of adverse exchange-rate movements between the U.S. dollar and the functional
currencies of such contracts. Additionally, trading on non-U.S. exchanges is subject to the risks presented by exchange controls,
expropriation, increased tax burdens and exposure to local economic declines and political instability. An adverse development
with respect to any of these variables could reduce the profit or increase the loss earned on trades in the affected international
markets.
UNL
and USCF may have conflicts of interest, which may permit them to favor their own interests to the detriment of shareholders.
UNL is
subject to actual and potential inherent conflicts involving USCF, various commodity futures brokers and Authorized Participants.
USCF’s officers, directors and employees do not devote their time exclusively to UNL and also are directors, officers or
employees of other entities that may compete with UNL for their services. They could create a conflict between their responsibilities
to UNL and to those other entities. As a result of these and other relationships, parties involved with UNL have a financial incentive
to act in a manner other than in the best interests of UNL and the shareholders. USCF has not established any formal procedure
to resolve conflicts of interest. Consequently, investors are dependent on the good faith of the respective parties subject to
such conflicts of interest to resolve them equitably. Although USCF attempts to monitor these conflicts, it is extremely difficult,
if not impossible, for USCF to ensure that these conflicts do not, in fact, result in adverse consequences to the shareholders.
USCF
serves as the general partner or sponsor to each of UNL and the Related Public Funds. USCF may have a conflict to the extent that
its trading decisions for UNL may be influenced by the effect they would have on the other funds it manages. By way of example,
if, as a result of reaching position limits imposed by the NYMEX, UNL purchased Futures Contracts, this decision could impact
UNL’s ability to purchase additional Futures Contracts if the number of contracts held by funds managed by USCF reached
the maximum allowed by the NYMEX. Similar situations could adversely affect the ability of the Related Public Funds to track their
benchmark futures contract(s).
UNL may
also be subject to certain conflicts with respect to its FCMs, including, but not limited to, conflicts that result from the FCM
receiving greater amounts of compensation from other clients, or purchasing opposite or competing positions on behalf of third-party
accounts traded through the FCMs. In addition, USCF’s principals, officers, directors or employees may trade futures and
related contracts for their own account. A conflict of interest may exist if their trades are in the same markets and at the same
time as UNL trades using the clearing broker to be used by UNL. A potential conflict also may occur if USCF’s principals,
officers, directors or employees trade their accounts more aggressively or take positions in their accounts which are opposite,
or ahead of, the positions taken by UNL.
UNL
could terminate at any time and cause the liquidation and potential loss of an investor’s investment and could upset the
overall maturity and timing of an investor’s investment portfolio.
UNL may
terminate at any time, regardless of whether UNL has incurred losses, subject to the terms of the LP Agreement. In particular,
unforeseen circumstances, including, but not limited to, (i) market conditions, regulatory requirements, risk mitigation measures
(including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s FCMs, counterparties or other market participants) that would lead UNL
to determine that it could no longer foreseeably meet its investment objective or that UNL’s aggregate net assets in relation
to its operating expenses or its margin or collateral requirements make the continued operation of UNL unreasonable or imprudent,
or (ii) adjudication of incompetence, bankruptcy, dissolution, withdrawal, or removal of USCF as the general partner of UNL could
cause UNL to terminate unless a majority interest of the limited partners within 90 days of the event elects to continue the partnership
and appoints a successor general partner, or the affirmative vote of a majority in interest of the limited partners subject to
certain conditions. However, no level of losses will require USCF to terminate UNL. UNL’s termination would cause the liquidation
and potential loss of an investor’s investment. Termination could also negatively affect the overall maturity and timing
of an investor’s investment portfolio.
UNL
does not expect to make cash distributions.
UNL has
not previously made any cash distributions and intends to reinvest any realized gains in additional Natural Gas Interests rather
than distributing cash to limited partners or other shareholders. Therefore, unlike mutual funds, commodity pools or other investment
pools that actively manage their investments in an attempt to realize income and gains from their investing activities and distribute
such income and gains to their investors, UNL generally does not expect to distribute cash to limited partners. An investor should
not invest in UNL if the investor will need cash distributions from UNL to pay taxes on its share of income and gains of UNL,
if any, or for any other reason. Nonetheless, although UNL does not intend to make cash distributions, the income earned from
its investments held directly or posted as margin may reach levels that merit distribution, e.g., at levels where such
income is not necessary to support its underlying investments in Natural Gas Interests and investors adversely react to being
taxed on such income without receiving distributions that could be used to pay such tax. If this income becomes significant then
cash distributions may be made.
An
unanticipated number of Redemption Basket requests during a short period of time could have an adverse effect on UNL’s NAV.
If a
substantial number of requests for redemption of Redemption Baskets are received by UNL during a relatively short period of time,
UNL may not be able to satisfy the requests from UNL’s assets not committed to trading. As a consequence, it could be necessary
to liquidate positions in UNL’s trading positions before the time that the trading strategies would otherwise dictate liquidation.
The
suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants to purchase Creation Baskets could cause UNL’s NAV to differ materially
from its trading price.
In the
event that there was a suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants to purchase additional Creation Baskets, Authorized
Participants and other groups that make a market in shares of UNL would likely still continue to actively trade the shares. However,
in such a situation, Authorized Participants and other market makers may seek to adjust the market they make in the shares. Specifically,
such market participants may increase the spread between the prices that they quote for offers to buy and sell shares to allow
them to adjust to the potential uncertainty as to when they might be able to purchase additional Creation Baskets of shares. In
addition, Authorized Participants may be less willing to offer to quote offers to buy or sell shares in large numbers. The potential
impact of either wider spreads between bid and offer prices, or a reduced number of shares on which quotes may be available, could
increase the trading costs to investors in UNL compared to the quotes and the number of shares on which bids and offers are made
if the Authorized Participants still were able to freely create new baskets of shares. In addition, there could be a significant
variation between the market price at which shares are traded and the shares’ NAV, which is also the price at which shares
can be redeemed with UNL by Authorized Participants in Redemption Baskets. The foregoing could also create significant deviations
from UNL’s investment objective. Any potential impact to the market for shares of UNL that could occur from an Authorized
Participant’s inability to create new baskets would likely not extend beyond the time when UNL resumes selling Creation
Baskets.
UNL
may determine that, to allow it to reinvest the proceeds from sales of its Creation Baskets in currently permitted assets in a
manner that meets its investment objective, it may limit or suspend its offers of Creation Baskets.
UNL may
determine to limit the issuance of its shares through the offering of Creation Baskets to its Authorized Participants. As a result
of certain circumstances described herein, including (1) the need to comply with regulatory requirements (including, but not limited
to, exchange accountability levels and position limits as well as statutory or regulatory limits); (2) market conditions (including
but not limited to those allowing UNL to obtain greater liquidity or to execute transactions with more favorable pricing); and
(3) risk mitigation measures (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s FCMs, counterparties, or other market participants)
that limit UNL and other market participants from investing in particular natural gas futures contracts, UNL’s management
may determine that it will limit the issuance of shares and the offerings of Creation Baskets because it is unable to invest the
proceeds from such offerings in investments that would permit it to reasonably meet its investment objective.
If such
a determination is made, the same consequences associated with a suspension of the offering of Creation Baskets, as described
in the foregoing risk factor, “The suspension in the ability of Authorized Participants to purchase Creation Baskets
could cause UNL’s NAV to differ materially from its trading price,” could also occur as a result
of UNL determining to limit the offering of Creation Baskets.
UNL
may be subject to interest rate risk, which may prevent UNL from investing fully at prevailing rates until any current investments
in Treasuries mature in order to avoid selling those investments at a loss.
Interest
rate risk is the risk that fixed income securities and other investments in UNL’s portfolio will fluctuate in value because
of a change in interest rates. Interest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable, and UNL may lose money because of movements
in interest rates. When interest rates rise, the value of fixed income securities typically falls. In a rising interest rate environment,
UNL may not be able to fully invest at prevailing rates until any current investments in Treasuries mature in order to avoid selling
those investments at a loss. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term investments and higher for longer term investments.
In addition, in rising interest rate environments, it is possible that the Treasuries held by UNL will decline in value. When
interest rates fall, UNL may be required to reinvest the proceeds from the sale, redemption or early prepayment of a Treasury
Bill or money market security at a lower interest rate.
As
inflation increases, the present value of UNL’s assets may decline.
Inflation
is a general increase in the overall price level of goods and services in the economy. The United States Federal Reserve has a
stated goal of maintaining a two percent increase in inflation over the long run, as measured by the annual change in the price
index for personal consumption expenditures.
Following
the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States experienced inflation above the Federal Reserve’s stated two percent goal. Other
world economies similarly experienced elevated inflation rates. The Federal Reserve increased interest rates and successfully
reduced inflation so that it is close to the stated two percent goal. As a result, in 2024, the Federal Reserve began reducing
interest rates. However, the rate of inflation in the United States is still above the stated two percent goal. Inflation has
the effect of eroding the value of cash or bonds. In a high inflation environment, the value of UNL’s cash and Treasury
investments may decline.
UNL
may potentially lose money by investing in government money market funds.
UNL invests
in government money market funds. Although such government money market funds seek to preserve the value of an investment at $1.00
per share, there is no guarantee that they will be able to do so and UNL may lose money by investing in a government money market
fund. An investment in a government money market fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(the “FDIC”) or any other government agency. The share price of a government money market fund can fall below the
$1.00 share price. UNL cannot rely on or expect a government money market fund’s adviser or its affiliates to enter into
support agreements or take other actions to maintain the government money market fund’s $1.00 share price. The credit quality
of a government money market fund’s holdings can change rapidly in certain markets, and the default of a single holding
could have an adverse impact on the government money market fund’s share price. Due to fluctuations in interest rates, the
market value of securities held by a government money market fund may vary. A government money market fund’s share price
can also be negatively affected during periods of high redemption pressures and/or illiquid markets.
The
failure or bankruptcy of a clearing broker could result in a substantial loss of UNL’s assets and could impair UNL in its
ability to execute trades.
The CEA
and CFTC regulations impose several requirements on FCMs and clearing houses that are designed to protect customers, including
mandating the implementation of risk management programs, internal monitoring and controls, capital and liquidity standards, customer
disclosures, and auditing and examination programs. In particular, the CEA and CFTC regulations require FCMs and clearing houses
to segregate all funds received from customers from proprietary assets. There can be no assurance that the requirements imposed
by the CEA and CFTC regulations will prevent losses to, or not materially adversely affect, UNL or its investors.
In particular,
in the event of an FCM’s or clearing house’s bankruptcy, UNL could be limited to recovering either a pro rata share
of all available funds segregated on behalf of the FCM’s combined customer accounts or UNL may not recover any assets at
all. UNL may also incur a loss of any unrealized profits on its open and closed positions. This is because if such a bankruptcy
were to occur, UNL would be afforded the protections granted to customers of an FCM, and participants to transactions cleared
through a clearing house, under the United States Bankruptcy Code and applicable CFTC regulations. Such provisions generally provide
for a pro rata distribution to customers of customer property held by the bankrupt FCM or an Exchange’s clearing house if
the customer property held by the FCM or the Exchange’s clearing house is insufficient to satisfy all customer claims.
Bankruptcy
of a clearing FCM can be caused by, among other things, the default of one of the FCM’s customers. In this event, the Exchange’s
clearing house is permitted to use the entire amount of margin posted by UNL (as well as margin posted by other customers of the
FCM) to cover the amounts owed by the bankrupt FCM. Consequently, UNL could be unable to recover amounts due to it on its futures
positions, including assets posted as margin, and could sustain substantial losses.
Notwithstanding
that UNL could sustain losses upon the failure or bankruptcy of its FCM, the majority of UNL’s assets are held in Treasuries,
cash and/or cash equivalents with UNL’s Custodian and would not be impacted by the bankruptcy of an FCM.
The
failure or bankruptcy of UNL’s Custodian could result in a substantial loss of UNL’s assets.
The majority
of UNL’s assets are held in Treasuries, cash and/or cash equivalents with the Custodian. The insolvency of the Custodian
could result in a complete loss of UNL’s assets held by that Custodian, which, at any given time, would likely comprise
a substantial portion of UNL’s total assets.
Competing
claims of intellectual property rights may adversely affect UNL and an investment in UNL’s shares.
USCF
believes that it has properly licensed or obtained the appropriate consent of all necessary parties with respect to intellectual
property rights. However, other third parties could allege ownership as to such rights and may bring legal action asserting their
claims. The expenses in litigating, negotiating, cross-licensing or otherwise settling such claims may adversely affect UNL. Additionally,
as a result of such action, UNL could potentially change its investment objective, strategies or benchmark. Each of these factors
could have a negative impact on the performance of UNL.
Due
to the increased use of technologies, intentional and unintentional cyber-attacks pose operational and information security risks.
With
the increased use of technologies such as the internet and the dependence on computer systems to perform necessary business functions,
UNL is susceptible to operational and information security risks. In general, cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks
or unintentional events such as a cyber-attack against UNL, a natural catastrophe, an industrial accident, failure of UNL’s
disaster recovery systems, or consequential employee error. Cyber-attacks include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized
access to digital systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational
disruption. Cyber-attacks may also be carried out in a manner that does not require gaining unauthorized access, such as causing
denial-of-service attacks on websites. Cyber security failures or breaches of UNL’s clearing broker or third party service
provider (including, but not limited to, index providers, the administrator and transfer agent, the custodian), have the ability
to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, the inability of UNL shareholders
to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement
or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs. Adverse effects can become particularly acute if those events
affect UNL’s electronic data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems, or impact the availability, integrity,
or confidentiality of our data. In addition, a service provider that has experienced a cyber-security incident may divert resources
normally devoted to servicing UNL to addressing the incident, which would be likely to have an adverse effect on UNL’s operations.
Cyber-attacks may also cause disruptions to the futures exchanges and clearinghouses through which UNL invests in futures contracts,
which could result in disruptions to UNL’s ability to pursue its investment objective, resulting in financial losses to
UNL and its shareholders.
In addition,
substantial costs may be incurred in order to prevent any cyber incidents in the future. UNL and its shareholders could be negatively
impacted as a result. While USCF and the Related Public Funds, including UNL, have established business continuity plans, there
are inherent limitations in such plans, including the possibility that certain risks have not been identified or that new risks
will emerge before countervailing measures can be implemented. Furthermore, UNL cannot control cybersecurity plans and systems
of its service providers, market makers or Authorized Participants.
UNL’s
investment returns could be negatively affected by climate change and greenhouse gas restrictions.
Driven
by concern over the risks of climate change, a number of countries have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, regulatory
frameworks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or production and use of oil and gas. These include adoption of cap and trade regimes,
carbon taxes, trade tariffs, minimum renewable usage requirements, restrictive permitting, increased efficiency standards, and
incentives or mandates for renewable energy. Political and other actors and their agents increasingly seek to advance climate
change objectives indirectly, such as by seeking to reduce the availability of or increase the cost for, financial and investment
in the oil and gas sector and taking actions intended to promote changes in business strategy for oil and gas companies. Many
governments are also providing tax advantages and other subsidies to support transitioning to alternative energy sources or mandating
the use of specific fuels other than oil or natural gas. Depending on how policies are formulated and applied, they could have
the potential to negatively affect UNL’s investment returns and make oil and natural gas products more expensive or less
competitive.
USCF
is the subject of class action, derivative, and other litigation. In light of the inherent uncertainties involved in litigation
matters, an adverse outcome in this litigation could materially adversely affect USCF’s financial condition.
USCF
and USCF’s directors and certain of its officers are currently subject to litigation. Estimating an amount or range of possible
losses resulting from litigation proceedings to USCF is inherently difficult and requires an extensive degree of judgment, particularly
where the matters involve indeterminate claims for monetary damages and are subject to appeal. In addition, because most legal
proceedings are resolved over extended periods of time, potential losses are subject to change due to, among other things, new
developments, changes in legal strategy, the outcome of intermediate procedural and substantive rulings and other parties’
settlement posture and their evaluation of the strength or weakness of their case against USCF. For these reasons, we are currently
unable to predict the ultimate timing or outcome of, or reasonably estimate the possible losses or a range of possible losses
resulting therefrom. In light of the inherent uncertainties involved in such matters, an adverse outcome in this litigation could
materially adversely affect USCF’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in any particular reporting
period. In addition, litigation could result in substantial costs and divert USCF’s management’s attention and resources
from conducting USCF’s operations, including the management of UNL and the Related Public Funds.
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ABOUT UNL, ITS INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE AND INVESTMENTS
UNL is
a Delaware limited partnership organized on June 27, 2007. It operates pursuant to the terms of the Third Amended and Restated
Agreement of Limited Partnership dated as of December 15, 2017 (as amended from time to time, the “LP Agreement”),
which grants full management control of UNL to USCF. UNL maintains its main business office at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite
640, Walnut Creek, California 94596.
The net
assets of UNL consist primarily of investments in Futures Contracts and, to a lesser extent, in order to comply with regulatory
requirements, risk mitigation measures (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s FCMs, counterparties, or other market
participants), liquidity requirements, or in view of market conditions, Other Natural Gas-Related Investments. Market conditions
that USCF currently anticipates could cause UNL to invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments include those allowing UNL
to obtain greater liquidity or to execute transactions with more favorable pricing.
UNL invests
substantially the entire amount of its assets in Futures Contracts while supporting such investments by holding the amounts of
its margin, collateral and other requirements relating to these obligations in short-term obligations of the United States of
two years or less (“Treasuries”), cash and cash equivalents.
The daily
holdings of UNL are available on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com. The end of day portfolio disclosed on
UNL’s website would reflect any investments in Futures Contracts beyond the Benchmark Futures Contracts, and/or Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments, including any made in light of market conditions, regulatory requirements, risk mitigation measures (including
those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s FCMs, counterparties or other market participants), liquidity requirements, or other
factors. Independent of the UNL website, UNL may make available portfolio holdings information to Authorized Participants that
reflects the Fund’s anticipated holdings on the following business day.
UNL invests
in Natural Gas Interests to the fullest extent possible without being leveraged or unable to satisfy its current or potential
margin or collateral obligations with respect to its investments in Natural Gas Interests. In pursuing this objective, the primary
focus of USCF is the investment in Futures Contracts and the management of UNL’s investments in Treasuries, cash and/or
cash equivalents for margining purposes and as collateral.
UNL seeks
to invest in a combination of Natural Gas Interests such that the average daily changes in its NAV, measured in percentage terms,
will closely track the average daily changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, also measured in percentage terms.
As a specific benchmark, USCF endeavors to place UNL’s trades in Natural Gas Interests and otherwise manage UNL’s
investments so that “A” will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of “B”, where:
| · | A
is the average daily percentage change in UNL’s per share NAV for any period of
30 successive valuation days, i.e., any NYSE Arca trading day as of which UNL
calculates its per share NAV; and |
| · | B
is the average daily percentage change in the average of the prices of the Benchmark
Futures Contracts over the same period. |
USCF
believes that market arbitrage opportunities will cause the daily changes in UNL’s share price on the NYSE Arca on a percentage
basis to closely track the daily changes in UNL’s per share NAV. USCF further believes that the daily changes in UNL’s
NAV in percentage terms will closely track the daily changes in percentage terms in the average of the prices of the Benchmark
Futures Contracts, less UNL’s expenses. However, investors should be aware that UNL would meet its investment objective
even if there are significant deviations between changes in its daily NAV and changes in the daily prices of the Benchmark Futures
Contracts provided that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV over 30 successive valuation days is within plus/minus
ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period.
The following
two charts demonstrate the correlation between the changes in UNL’s NAV and the changes in the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
The first chart below shows the daily movement of UNL’s per share NAV versus the daily movement of the Benchmark Futures
Contracts for the 30 valuation day period ended December 31, 2024. The second chart below shows the monthly total returns of UNL
as compared to the monthly value of the Benchmark Futures Contracts for the five years ended December 31, 2024.
*PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS

*PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS

USCF
employs a “neutral” investment strategy in order to track changes in the average prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts
regardless of whether these prices go up or go down. UNL’s “neutral” investment strategy is designed to permit
investors generally to purchase and sell UNL’s shares for the purpose of investing indirectly in natural gas in a cost-effective
manner, and/or to permit participants in the natural gas or other industries to hedge the risk of losses in their natural gas-related
transactions. Accordingly, depending on the investment objective of an individual investor, the risks generally associated with
investing in natural gas and/or the risks involved in hedging may exist. In addition, an investment in UNL involves the risk that
the daily changes in the average of the prices of UNL’s shares, in percentage terms, will not accurately track the daily
changes in the average prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, in percentage terms, and that daily changes in the Benchmark
Futures Contracts, in percentage terms, will not closely correlate with daily changes in the spot prices of natural gas, in percentage
terms.
An alternative
tracking measurement of the return performance of UNL versus the return of the Benchmark Futures Contracts can be calculated by
comparing the actual return of UNL, measured by changes in its per share NAV, versus the expected changes in its per share NAV
under the assumption that UNL’s returns had been exactly the same as the daily changes in the average of the prices of its
Benchmark Futures Contracts.
For the
year ended December 31, 2024, the actual total return of UNL as measured by changes in its per share NAV was (5.36)%. This is
based on an initial per share NAV of $8.58 as of December 31, 2023 and an ending per share NAV as of December 31, 2024 of $8.12.
During this time period, UNL made no distributions to its shareholders. However, if UNL’s daily changes in its per share
NAV had instead exactly tracked the changes in the daily total return of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, UNL would have had an
estimated per share NAV of $7.74 as of December 31, 2024, for a total return over the relevant time period of (9.82)%. The difference
between the actual per share NAV total return of UNL of (5.36)% and the expected total return based on the Benchmark Futures Contracts
of (9.82)% was a difference over the time period of 4.46%, which is to say that UNL’s actual total return outperformed its
benchmark by that percentage. UNL incurs expenses primarily composed of the management fee, brokerage commissions for the buying
and selling of futures contracts, and other expenses. The impact of these expenses, offset by interest and dividend income, and
net of positive or negative execution, tends to cause daily changes in the per share NAV of UNL to track slightly lower or higher
than daily changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
Impact of Contango and
Backwardation on Total Returns
Several
factors determine the total return from investing in futures contracts. One factor arises from “rolling” futures contracts
that will expire at the end of the current month (the “near” or “front” month contract) forward each month
prior to expiration. For a strategy that entails holding the near month contract, the price relationship between that futures
contract and the next month futures contract will impact returns. For example, if the price of the near month futures contract
is higher than the next futures month contract (a situation referred to as “backwardation”), then absent any other
change, the price of a next month futures contract tends to rise in value as it becomes the near month futures contract and approaches
expiration. Conversely, if the price of a near month futures contract is lower than the next month futures contract (a situation
referred to as “contango”), then absent any other change, the price of a next month futures contract tends to decline
in value as it becomes the near month futures contract and approaches expiration.
As an
example, assume that the price of natural gas for immediate delivery, is $3 per MMBtu, and the value of a position in the near
month futures contract is also $3. Over time, the price of natural gas will fluctuate based on a number of market factors, including
demand for oil relative to supply. The value of the near month futures contract will likewise fluctuate in reaction to a number
of market factors. If an investor seeks to maintain a position in a near month futures contract and not take delivery of physical
MMBtu of natural gas, the investor must sell the current near month futures contract as it approaches expiration and invest in
the next month futures contract. In order to continue holding a position in the current near month futures contract, this “roll”
forward of the futures contract must be executed every month.
Contango
and backwardation are natural market forces that have impacted the total return on an investment in UNL’s shares during
the past year relative to a hypothetical direct investment in natural gas. In the future, it is likely that the relationship between
the market price of UNL’s shares and changes in the spot prices of natural gas will continue to be impacted by contango
and backwardation. It is important to note that this comparison ignores the potential costs associated with physically owning
and storing natural gas, which could be substantial.
If the
futures market is in backwardation, e.g., when the price of the near month futures contract is higher than the price of
the next month futures contract, the investor would buy a next month futures contract for a lower price than the current near
month futures contract. Assuming the price of the next month futures contract was $2.94 per MMBtu, or 2% cheaper than the $3 near
month futures contract, then, hypothetically, and assuming no other changes (e.g., to either prevailing natural gas prices or
the price relationship between the spot price, the near month contract and the next month contract, and, ignoring the impact of
commission costs and the income earned on cash and/or cash equivalents), the value of the $2.94 next month futures contract would
rise to $3 as it approaches expiration. In this example, the value of an investment in the next month futures contract would tend
to outperform the spot price of natural gas. As a result, it would be possible for the new near month futures contract to rise
12% while the spot price of natural gas may have risen a lower amount, e.g., only 10%. Similarly, the spot price of natural gas
could have fallen 10% while the value of an investment in the futures contract might have fallen another amount, e.g., only 8%.
Over time, if backwardation remained constant, this difference between the spot price and the futures contract price would continue
to increase.
If the
futures market is in contango, an investor would be buying a next month futures contract for a higher price than the current near
month futures contract. Again, assuming the near month futures contract is $3 per MMBtu, the price of the next month futures contract
might be $3.06 per MMBtu, or 2% more expensive than the front month futures contract. Hypothetically, and assuming no other changes,
the value of the $3.06 next month futures contract would fall to $3 as it approaches expiration. In this example, the value of
an investment in the second month would tend to underperform the spot price of natural gas. As a result, it would be possible
for the new near month futures contract to rise only 10% while the spot price of natural gas may have risen a higher amount, e.g.,
12%. Similarly, the spot price of natural gas could have fallen 10% while the value of an investment in the second month futures
contract might have fallen another amount, e.g., 12%. Over time, if contango remained constant, this difference between the spot
price and the futures contract price would continue to increase.
The chart
below compares the daily price of the near month natural gas futures contract to the price of 13th month natural gas futures contract
(i.e., a contract one year forward) over the last 10 years. When the price of the near month futures contract is higher than the
price of the 13th month futures contract, the market would be described as being in backwardation. When the price of the near
month futures contract is lower than the 13th month futures contract, the market would be described as being in contango. Although
the price of the near month futures contract and the price of the 13th month futures contract tend to move together, it can be
seen that at times the near month futures contract prices are higher than the 13th month futures contract prices (backwardation)
and, at other times, the near month futures contract prices are lower than the 13th month futures contract prices (contango).
*PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS

An alternative
way to view the same data is to subtract the dollar price of the 13th month natural gas futures contract from the dollar price
of the near month natural gas futures contract, as shown in the chart below. When the difference is positive, the market is in
backwardation. When the difference is negative, the market is in contango. The natural gas market spent time in both backwardation
and contango during the last ten years. The chart below shows the results from subtracting the average dollar price of the near
12-month contracts from the near month price for the 10-year period between December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2024. Investors
will note that the natural gas market spent time in both backwardation and contango during that period.
*PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS

An investment
in a portfolio that owned only the near month natural gas futures contract would likely produce a different result than an investment
in a portfolio that owned an equal number of each of the near 12 months’ of natural gas futures contracts. Generally speaking,
when the natural gas futures market is in backwardation, a portfolio of only the near month natural gas futures contract may tend
to have a higher total return than a portfolio of 12 months’ of the natural gas futures contract. Conversely, if the natural
gas futures market is in contango, the portfolio containing only 12 months’ of natural gas futures contracts may tend to
outperform the portfolio holding only the near month natural gas futures contract.
Historically,
the natural gas futures markets have experienced periods of contango and backwardation. Because natural gas demand is seasonal,
it is possible for the price of natural gas futures contracts for delivery within one or two months to rapidly move from backwardation
into contango and back again within the relatively short period of time of less than one year.
During
the year ended December 31, 2024, the average price of the Benchmark Natural Gas Futures Contracts traded in a range between $2.509
and $3.739. The average price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts increased 30.81% from the end of 2023 through December 31, 2024,
finishing the quarter at $3.622. The number of rigs dedicated to natural gas production fell from 120 at the start of the year
to 102 by the end of the fourth quarter. Natural gas stored in the United States stood at 3,413 billion cubic feet as of December
31, 2024, about 1.9% lower than the same time last year. While both domestic demand and U.S. exports of natural gas have generally
increased over the last five years, U.S. production has also continued to increase, leading to storage surpluses over one-year
ago and five-year ago levels throughout 2024. However, the surplus narrowed significantly in the fourth quarter as weather-related
demand increased. Overall mild temperatures relative to expectations for the better part of the year, and the persistent surplus
of gas in storage have weighed on prices. While the previous administration’s restrictions on natural gas exports kept prices
low, the increasing demand for LNG may lift prices, as could potential new demand for natural gas to power AI data centers.
There
can be no assurance that this current period of backwardation will continue, nor is it possible to predict how long backwardation
will continue. If the war in Ukraine continues and/or escalates, or if sanctions or responses by the United States and/or other
nations, lead to a reduction in the supply of natural gas from Russia to Europe, then all natural gas prices could rise, and distortions
in the futures curve for the Benchmark Futures Contracts could become more pronounced. In contrast, if concerns about a natural
gas shortage resulting from the war in Ukraine ebb due to an expected or actual resolution of the war, then natural gas prices
for all delivery months could decline, and the premium for the Benchmark Futures Contracts closer to expiration would most likely
fall.
Periods
of contango or backwardation do not materially impact UNL’s investment objective of having the daily percentage changes
in its per share NAV track the daily percentage changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. This
is because the impact of backwardation and contango tend to equally impact the daily percentage changes in price of both UNL’s
shares and the Benchmark Futures Contracts. It is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty whether backwardation or
contango will occur in the future. It is likely that both conditions will occur during different periods and, because of the seasonal
nature of natural gas demand, both may occur within a single year’s time.
In managing
UNL’s assets, USCF does not use a technical trading system that issues buy and sell orders. USCF employs a quantitative
methodology whereby each time a Creation Basket is sold, USCF purchases Natural Gas Interests, such as the Benchmark Futures Contracts,
that have an aggregate market value that approximates the amount of Treasuries and/or cash received upon the issuance of the Creation
Basket.
UNL’s
purchase of Futures Contracts other than the Benchmark Futures Contracts and/or Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, if any,
depends on various factors, including diversification of UNL’s investments in futures contracts with respect to the month
of expiration, and the prevailing price volatility of particular contracts. In addition, UNL may make use of a mixture of standard-sized
futures contracts as well as smaller-sized “mini” contracts. UNL may invest in Futures Contracts traded on other exchanges
or invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments for various reasons, including the ability to enter into the precise amount
of exposure to the natural gas market, position limits or other regulatory requirements limiting UNL’s holdings, and market
conditions. To the extent that UNL invests in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, it would prioritize investments in contracts
and instruments that are economically equivalent to the Benchmark Futures Contracts, including cleared swaps that satisfy such
criteria, and then, to a lesser extent, it may invest in other types of cleared swaps and other contracts, instruments and non-cleared
swaps, such as swaps in the over-the-counter market (or commonly referred to as the “OTC market”). If UNL is required
by law or regulation, or by one of its regulators, including a futures exchange, to reduce its position in the Benchmark Futures
Contracts to the applicable position limit or to a specified accountability level or if market conditions dictate it would be
more appropriate to invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, a substantial portion of UNL’s assets could be invested
in accordance with such priority in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments that are intended to replicate the return on the Benchmark
Futures Contracts. As UNL’s assets reach higher levels, it is more likely to exceed position limits, accountability levels
or other regulatory limits and, as a result, it is more likely that it will invest in accordance with such priority in Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments at such higher levels. In addition, market conditions that USCF currently anticipates could cause UNL
to invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments include those allowing UNL to obtain greater liquidity or to execute transactions
with more favorable pricing. See “Risk Factors Involved with an Investment in UNL” for a discussion of the
potential impact of regulation on UNL’s ability to invest in OTC transactions and cleared swaps.
USCF
does not anticipate letting UNL’s Futures Contracts expire and taking delivery of the underlying commodity. Instead, USCF
will close existing positions, e.g., when it changes the Benchmark Futures Contracts or Other Natural Gas-Related Investments
or it otherwise determines it would be appropriate to do so and reinvests the proceeds in new Futures Contracts or Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments. Positions may also be closed out to meet orders for Redemption Baskets and in such case proceeds for
such baskets will not be reinvested.
Each
month, the Benchmark Futures Contracts are changed from the near month contract to expire and the 11 following months of futures
contracts to the next month contract to expire and the 11 following months during one day each month. Specifically, when the near
month futures contract is within two weeks of expiration, USCF “rolls” UNL’s near month futures contract positions
by closing, or selling, UNL’s Natural Gas Interests that are the near month to expire futures contract and reinvesting the
proceeds from closing those positions in new Natural Gas Interests.
The anticipated
dates on which the Benchmark Futures Contracts are changed and UNL’s natural gas interests are “rolled” will
be posted on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com, and are subject to change without notice.
By remaining
invested as fully as possible in Futures Contracts or Other natural Gas-Related Investments, USCF believes that the daily changes
in percentage terms in UNL’s per share NAV will continue to closely track the daily changes in percentage terms in the average
of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. USCF believes that certain arbitrage opportunities result in the price of the
shares traded on the NYSE Arca closely tracking the per share NAV of UNL. Additionally, Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX
have closely tracked the spot price of natural gas. Based on these expected interrelationships, USCF believes that the daily changes
in the price of UNL’s shares traded on the NYSE Arca, on a percentage basis, have closely tracked and will continue to closely
track, the changes in the spot price of natural gas on a percentage basis.
What are the Trading Policies
of UNL?
Investment Objective
UNL’s
investment objective is for the average daily percentage changes in the NAV per share to reflect the average daily percentage
changes of the spot price of natural gas delivered at the Henry Hub, Louisiana, as measured by the daily percentage changes in
the average of the prices of specified short-term futures contracts on natural gas called the “Benchmark Futures Contracts,”
plus interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, less UNL’s expenses. The Benchmark Futures Contracts are the futures
contracts on natural gas as traded on the NYMEX that is the near month contract to expire, and the contracts for the following
11 months, for a total of 12 consecutive months’ contracts, except when the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration,
in which case it will be measured by the futures contract that is the next month contract to expire and the contracts for the
following 11 consecutive months. When calculating the daily movement of the average price of the 12 contracts, each contract month
is equally weighted.
UNL seeks
to achieve its investment objective by investing so that the average daily percentage change in UNL’s NAV for any period
of 30 successive valuation days will be within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage change in the price
of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period. UNL’s investment strategy is designed to provide investors with
a cost-effective way to invest indirectly in natural gas and to hedge against movements in the spot price of natural gas. However,
investors should be aware that UNL would meet its investment objective even if there are significant deviations between changes
in its daily NAV and changes in the daily prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts provided that the average daily percentage
change in UNL’s NAV over 30 successive valuation days is within plus/minus ten percent (10%) of the average daily percentage
change in the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period.
Liquidity
UNL invests
only in Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments that, in the opinion of USCF, are traded in sufficient volume
to permit the ready taking and liquidation of positions in these financial interests and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments
that, in the opinion of USCF, may be readily liquidated with the original counterparty or through a third party assuming the position
of UNL.
Spot Commodities
While
the Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments traded can be physically settled, UNL does not intend to take
or make physical delivery. UNL may from time to time trade in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, including contracts based
on the spot price of natural gas.
Leverage
Although
permitted to do so under its LP Agreement, UNL has not leveraged, and does not intend to leverage, its assets through borrowings
or otherwise, and UNL makes its investments accordingly. Consistent with the foregoing, UNL’s investments will take into
account the need for UNL to maintain adequate liquidity to meet its margin and collateral requirements and to avoid, to the extent
reasonably possible, UNL becoming leveraged. If market conditions require it, these risk reduction procedures, including changes
to UNL’s investments, may occur on short notice.
UNL does
not and will not borrow money or use debt to satisfy its margin or collateral obligations in respect of its investments, but it
could become leveraged if UNL were to hold insufficient assets that would allow it to meet not only the current, but also future,
margin or collateral obligations required for such investments. Such a circumstance could occur if UNL were to hold assets that
have a value of less than zero.
USCF
endeavors to have the value of UNL’s Treasuries, cash and cash equivalents, whether held by UNL or posted as margin or other
collateral, at all times approximate the aggregate market value of its obligations under its Futures Contracts and Other Natural
Gas-Related Investments.
Borrowings
Borrowings
are not used by UNL, unless UNL is required to borrow money in the event of physical delivery, if UNL trades in cash commodities,
or for short-term needs created by unexpected redemptions.
OTC Derivatives (Including
Spreads and Straddles)
In addition
to Futures Contracts, there are also a number of listed options on the Futures Contracts on the principal futures exchanges. These
contracts offer investors and hedgers another set of financial vehicles to use in managing exposure to the natural gas market.
Consequently, UNL may purchase options on natural gas Futures Contracts on these exchanges in pursuing its investment objective.
In addition
to the Futures Contracts and options on the Futures Contracts, there also exists an active non-exchange-traded market in derivatives
tied to natural gas. These derivatives transactions (also known as OTC contracts) are usually entered into between two parties
in private contracts. Unlike most of the exchange-traded Futures Contracts or exchange-traded options on the Futures Contracts,
each party to such contract bears the credit risk of the other party, i.e., the risk that the other party may not be able to perform
its obligations under its contract.
To reduce
the credit risk that arises in connection with such contracts, UNL will generally enter into an agreement with each counterparty
based on the Master Agreement published by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) that
provides for the netting of its overall exposure to its counterparty and, consistent with applicable regulatory requirements,
the posting by each party to cover the mark-to-market exposure of a counterparty to the other counterparty is required.
USCF
assesses or reviews, as appropriate, the creditworthiness of each potential or existing counterparty to an OTC contract pursuant
to guidelines approved by USCF’s Board of Directors.
UNL may
enter into certain transactions where an OTC component is exchanged for a corresponding futures contract (“Exchange for
Related Position” or “EFRP” transactions). In the most common type of EFRP transaction entered into by UNL,
the OTC component is the purchase or sale of one or more baskets of UNL’s shares. These EFRP transactions may expose UNL
to counterparty risk during the interim period between the execution of the OTC component and the exchange for a corresponding
futures contract. Generally, the counterparty risk from the EFRP transaction will exist only on the day of execution.
UNL may
employ spreads or straddles in its trading to mitigate the differences in its investment portfolio and its goal of tracking the
price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts. UNL would use a spread when it chooses to take simultaneous long and short positions
in futures written on the same underlying asset, but with different delivery months.
Pyramiding
UNL has
not employed and will not employ the technique, commonly known as pyramiding, in which the speculator uses unrealized profits
on existing positions as variation margin for the purchase or sale of additional positions in the same or another commodity interest.
Prior Performance of UNL
*PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS
USCF
manages UNL which is a commodity pool that issues shares traded on the NYSE Arca. The chart below shows, as of February 28, 2025,
the number of Authorized Participants, the total number of baskets created and redeemed since inception and the number of outstanding
shares for UNL.
#
of Authorized
Participants |
|
Baskets
Purchased |
|
Baskets
Redeemed |
|
Outstanding
Shares |
|
9 |
|
|
231 |
|
|
213 |
|
|
1,700,000 |
|
The table
below shows the relationship between the trading prices of the shares and the daily NAV of UNL, since inception through February
28, 2025. The first row shows the average amount of the variation between UNL’s closing market price and NAV, computed on
a daily basis since inception, while the second and third rows depict the maximum daily amount of the end of day premiums and
discounts to NAV since inception, on a percentage basis. USCF believes that maximum and minimum end of day premiums and discounts
typically occur because trading in the shares continues on the NYSE Arca until 4:00 p.m. New York time while regular trading in
the Benchmark Futures Contracts on the NYMEX ceases at 2:30 p.m. New York time and the value of the relevant Benchmark Futures
Contracts, for purposes of determining its end of day NAV, can be determined at that time.
| |
UNL | |
Average Difference | |
$ | 0.0002 | |
Max Premium % | |
| 6.153 | |
Max Discount % | |
| (6.523 | ) |
| |
| | |
For more information on the
performance of UNL, see the Performance Tables below.
PAST
PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS
COMPOSITE
PERFORMANCE DATA FOR UNL
Name of Pool: United States
12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP
Type of Pool: Exchange traded
security
Inception of Trading: November
18, 2009
Aggregate Subscriptions (from
inception through February 28, 2025): $229,789,142
Total Net Assets as of February
28, 2025: $16,259,523.74
NAV per Share as of February
28, 2025: $9.56
Worst Monthly Percentage Draw-down:
June 2022 (28.33)%
Worst Peak-to-Valley Draw-down:
February 2010 – October 2024 (87.13)%
| |
Rates of Return* | |
Month | |
2020 | | |
2021 | | |
2022 | | |
2023 | | |
2024 | | |
2025** | |
January | |
| (9.02 | )% | |
| 2.33 | % | |
| 29.7 | % | |
| (22.39 | )% | |
| (2.33 | )% | |
| 1.23 | % |
February | |
| (7.17 | )% | |
| 5.68 | % | |
| (5.49 | )% | |
| (1.20 | )% | |
| (3.34 | )% | |
| 16.30 | % |
March | |
| 7.16 | % | |
| (5.73 | )% | |
| (25.42 | )% | |
| (11.80 | )% | |
| (4.07 | )% | |
| | |
April | |
| 13.24 | % | |
| 6.97 | % | |
| 24.57 | % | |
| (2.05 | )% | |
| 1.42 | % | |
| | |
May | |
| (8.91 | )% | |
| 1.19 | % | |
| 10.58 | % | |
| (7.00 | )% | |
| 4.44 | % | |
| | |
June | |
| (4.07 | )% | |
| 16.86 | % | |
| (28.33 | )% | |
| 8.38 | % | |
| 0.61 | % | |
| | |
July | |
| 2.78 | % | |
| 8.82 | % | |
| 35.63 | % | |
| (1.99 | )% | |
| (10.87 | )% | |
| | |
August | |
| 14.56 | % | |
| 7.92 | % | |
| 14.93 | % | |
| 0.44 | % | |
| (1.90 | )% | |
| | |
September | |
| (3.60 | )% | |
| 23.55 | % | |
| (20.10 | )% | |
| (4.06 | )% | |
| 9.39 | % | |
| | |
October | |
| 7.70 | % | |
| (2.69 | )% | |
| (4.36 | )% | |
| 7.63 | % | |
| (12.63 | )% | |
| | |
November | |
| (11.05 | )% | |
| (7.17 | )% | |
| 7.79 | % | |
| (18.12 | )% | |
| 10.55 | % | |
| | |
December | |
| (5.73 | )% | |
| (10.93 | )% | |
| (24.05 | )% | |
| (10.43 | )% | |
| 6.14 | % | |
| | |
Annual Rate of Return | |
| (8.19 | )% | |
| 50.52 | % | |
| 47.98 | % | |
| (50.23 | )% | |
| (5.36 | )% | |
| 17.73 | %** |
| * | The
monthly rate of return is calculated by dividing the ending NAV of a given month by the
ending NAV of the previous month, subtracting 1 and multiplying this number by 100 to
arrive at a percentage increase or decrease. |
| ** | Through
February 28, 2025. |
Draw-down: Losses experienced
by UNL over a specified period. Draw-down is measured on the basis of monthly returns only and does not reflect intra-month figures.
Worst
Monthly Percentage Draw-down: The largest single month loss sustained during the most recent five calendar years and year-to-date.
Worst
Peak-to-Valley Draw-down: The largest percentage decline in the NAV per share over the history of UNL. This need not be a continuous
decline, but can be a series of positive and negative returns where the negative returns are larger than the positive returns.
Worst Peak-to-Valley Draw-down represents the greatest cumulative percentage decline in month-end per share NAV is not equaled
or exceeded by a subsequent month-end per share NAV.
UNL’S Operations
USCF and its Management
and Traders
USCF
is a single member limited liability company that was formed in the state of Delaware on May 10, 2005. USCF maintains its main
business office at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640, Walnut Creek, California 94596. USCF is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
USCF Investments, a Delaware corporation, which is an intermediate holding company that owns USCF and another advisor of exchange
traded funds. USCF Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marygold (publicly traded under the ticker MGLD), a publicly traded
holding company that owns various financial and non-financial businesses. Mr. Nicholas Gerber (discussed below), along with certain
family members and certain other shareholders, owns the majority of the shares in Marygold. USCF Investments is a holding company
that currently holds both USCF, as well as USCF Advisers LLC, an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act
of 1940, as amended (“USCF Advisers”). USCF Advisers serves as the investment adviser for the USCF SummerHaven Dynamic
Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund (“SDCI”), USCF Midstream Energy Income Fund (“UMI”), USCF Gold Strategy
Plus Income Fund (“USG”), USCF Dividend Income Fund (“UDI”), USCF Sustainable Battery Metals Strategy
Fund (“ZSB”), USCF Energy Commodity Strategy Absolute Return Fund (“USE”), and USCF Sustainable Commodity
Strategy Fund (“ZSC”), each a series of the USCF ETF Trust. The USCF ETF Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. The
Board of Trustees for the USCF ETF Trust consists of different independent trustees than those independent directors who serve
on the Board of Directors of USCF. USCF is a member of the NFA and registered as a CPO with the CFTC on December 1, 2005 and as
a swaps firm on August 8, 2013.
USCF
serves as the general partner of UNL. USCF is also the general partner of the United States Oil Fund, LP (“USO”),
the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (“UNG”), the United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP (“USL”), the United
States Gasoline Fund, LP (“UGA”), and the United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (“BNO”).
USCF
is also the sponsor of the United States Commodity Index Fund (“USCI”) and the United States Copper Index Fund (“CPER”),
each a series of the United States Commodity Index Funds Trust (“USCIFT”).
UNG,
UGA, BNO, USL, USO, USCI and CPER are referred to collectively herein as the “Related Public Funds.”
UNL and
the Related Public Funds are subject to reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934
Act”). For more information about each of the Related Public Funds, investors in UNL may call 1-800-920-0259 or visit www.uscfinvestments.com
or the SEC website at www.sec.gov.
USCF
is required to evaluate the credit risk of UNL to the FCMs, oversee the purchase and sale of UNL’s shares by certain authorized
participants (“Authorized Participants”), review daily positions and margin requirements of UNL and manage UNL’s
investments. USCF also pays the fees of ALPS Distributors, Inc., which serves as the marketing agent for UNL (the “Marketing
Agent”), and The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY Mellon”), which serves as the administrator (the “Administrator”)
and the custodian (the “Custodian”), and provides accounting and transfer agent services for, UNL since April 1, 2020.
In no event may the aggregate compensation paid for the Marketing Agent and any affiliate of USCF for distribution-related services
in connection with the offering of shares exceed ten percent (10%) of the gross proceeds of this offering.
The limited
partners take no part in the management or control, and have a minimal voice in UNL’s operations and business. Limited partners
have no right to elect USCF on an annual or any other continuing basis. If USCF voluntarily withdraws, however, the holders of
a majority of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding for purposes of such determination shares owned, if any, by the withdrawing
general partner and its affiliates) may elect its successor. USCF may not be removed as general partner except upon approval by
the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3 percent of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding shares, if any, owned
by USCF and its affiliates), subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions set forth in the LP Agreement.
The business
and affairs of USCF are managed by the Board, which is comprised of the Management Directors, each of whom are also executive
officers and employees of USCF, and three independent directors who meet the independent director requirements established by
the NYSE Arca Equities Rules and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Management Directors have the authority to manage USCF pursuant
to the terms of the LLC Agreement. Through its Management Directors, USCF manages the day-to-day operations of UNL. The Board
has an audit committee, which is made up of the three independent directors (Gordon L. Ellis, Malcolm R. Fobes III and Peter M.
Robinson,). The audit committee is governed by an audit committee charter that is posted on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com.
The Board has determined that each member of the audit committee meets the financial literacy requirements of the NYSE Arca and
the audit committee charter. The Board has further determined that each of Messrs. Ellis and Fobes have accounting or related
financial management expertise, as required by the NYSE Arca, such that each of them is considered an “Audit Committee Financial
Expert” as such term is defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K.
UNL has
no executive officers. Pursuant to the terms of the LP Agreement, UNL’s affairs are managed by USCF.
The following
are individual Principals, as that term is defined in CFTC Rule 3.1, for USCF: John P. Love, Stuart P. Crumbaugh, Daphne G. Frydman,
Nicholas D. Gerber, Melinda D. Gerber, Andrew F Ngim, Robert L. Nguyen, Peter M. Robinson, Kathryn D. Rooney, Gordon L. Ellis,
Malcolm R. Fobes III, Ray W. Allen, Kevin A. Baum, and USCF Investments, Inc., formerly Wainwright Holdings, Inc. The individuals
who are Principals due to their positions are John P. Love, Stuart P. Crumbaugh, Daphne G. Frydman, Andrew F Ngim, Robert L. Nguyen,
Peter M. Robinson, Kathryn D. Rooney, Gordon L. Ellis, Malcolm R. Fobes III, Ray W. Allen, and Kevin A. Baum. In addition, USCF
Investments is a Principal because it is the sole member of USCF. None of the Principals owns or has any other beneficial interest
in UNL. Ray W. Allen makes trading and investment decisions for UNL. Ray W. Allen, Darius Coby, Seth Lancaster and Zach Sanchez
execute trades on behalf of UNL. In addition, John P. Love, Robert L. Nguyen, Ray W. Allen, Kevin A. Baum, Kathryn Rooney, Vincent
G. Pandes, and Maya Lowry are registered with the CFTC as Associated Persons of USCF and are NFA Associate Members. John P. Love,
Kevin A. Baum and Ray W. Allen are also registered with the CFTC as Swaps Associated Persons.
Ray
W. Allen, 68, Portfolio Manager of USCF since January 2008. Mr. Allen was the portfolio manager of: (1) UGA from February
2008 until March 2010, and then portfolio manager since May 2015, (2) UHN from April 2008 until March 2010, and then portfolio
manager from May 2015 to September 2018, (3) UNL from November 2009 until March 2010, and then portfolio manager since May 2015.
In addition, he has been the portfolio manager of: (1) DNO from September 2009 to September 2018, (2) USO and USL since March
2010, (3) BNO since June 2010, (4) UNG since May 2015, (5) United States 3x Oil Fund and United States 3x Short Oil Fund from
July 2017 to December 2019. Mr. Allen also has served as the portfolio manager of the USCF SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Strategy
No K-1 Fund, a series of the USCF ETF Trust, from May 2018 to October 2021 and then portfolio manager since January 2022. Mr.
Allen has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since March 2009 and has been registered as an associated person
of USCF since July 2015 and from March 2008 to November 2012. Additionally, Mr. Allen has been approved as an NFA swaps associated
person of USCF since July 2015. As of February 2017, he also is an associated person and swap associated person of USCF Advisers,
LLC (“USCF Advisers”). USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, is an investment adviser registered under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and swap firm. Mr. Allen
earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and holds an NFA Series 3 registration.
Kevin
A. Baum, 54, has served as the Chief Investment Officer of USCF since September 1, 2016 and as a Portfolio Manager of
USCF from March 2016 to April 2017. He also has served as the Chief Investment Officer of USCF Advisers since June 2021. Prior
to joining USCF, Mr. Baum temporarily retired from December 2015 to March 2016. Mr. Baum served as the Vice President and Senior
Portfolio Manager for Invesco, an investment manager that manages a family of exchange-traded funds, from October 2014 through
December 2015. Mr. Baum was temporarily retired from May 2012 through September 2014. From May 1993 to April 2012, Mr. Baum worked
as the Senior Portfolio Manager, Head of Commodities for OppenheimerFunds, Inc., a global asset manager. Mr. Baum has been approved
with respect to USCF as an NFA principal and associated person since April 2016, and a swap associated person since November 2020.
He also is an associated person of USCF Advisers as of February 2017, and, as of June 2021, a principal and swap associated person
of USCF Advisers. USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of
1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and swap firm. Mr. Baum is a CFA Charterholder,
CAIA Charterholder, earned a B.B.A. in Finance from Texas Tech University and holds an NFA Series 3 and FINRA Series 7 registrations.
Stuart
P. Crumbaugh, 61, Management Director of USCF since April 2023 and Chief Financial Officer, Secretary
and Treasurer of USCF since May 2015. In addition, Mr. Crumbaugh has served as a director of USCF Investments, the parent and
sole member of USCF, since December 2016. Mr. Crumbaugh has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since July 1,
2015 and, as of January 2017, he is a principal of USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, which is an investment adviser registered
under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and
swap firm. Since June 2015, Mr. Crumbaugh has been the Treasurer and Secretary of USCF Advisers. He has served as a Management
Trustee, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of USCF ETF Trust since May 2015. Mr. Crumbaugh joined USCF as the Assistant Chief
Financial Officer on April 6, 2015. Also, Mr. Crumbaugh served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Marygold Companies, Inc.,
formerly Concierge Technologies, Inc. (“Marygold”), the parent of USCF Investments, Inc. (formerly Wainwright Holdings,
Inc.) (“USCF Investments”) from December 2017 to January 2024 and as a management director on the board of directors
of Marygold from April 2023 to January 2024. He is also the Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors of Marygold &
Co., a subsidiary of Marygold, since November 2019. Prior to joining USCF, Mr. Crumbaugh was the Vice President Finance and Chief
Financial Officer of Sikka Software Corporation, a software service healthcare company providing optimization software and data
solutions from April 2014 to April 6, 2015. Mr. Crumbaugh served as a consultant providing technical accounting, IPO readiness
and M&A consulting services to various early stage companies with the Connor Group, a technical accounting consulting firm,
for the periods of January 2014 through March 2014; October 2012 through November 2012; and January 2011 through February 2011.
Mr. Crumbaugh earned a B.A. in Accounting and Business Administration from Michigan State University in 1987 and is a Certified
Public Accountant - Michigan (inactive).
Daphne
G. Frydman, 50, General Counsel of USCF and USCF Advisers, LLC since May 2018, and Director of Compliance of USCF
since April 2022. She is also the Chief Legal Officer of USCF ETF Trust since May 2018 and Secretary of the same since December
2021. Ms. Frydman served as Deputy General Counsel of USCF and USCF Advisers, LLC from May 2016 through May 2018. From September
2001 through April 2016, Ms. Frydman was an attorney in private practice at the law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.
Ms. Frydman is listed as a principal of USCF as of June 1, 2022. Ms. Frydman earned her J.D. from the Northwestern University
Pritzker School of Law and a B.A. in College of Letters and Spanish from Wesleyan University.
John
P. Love, 53, President and Chief Executive Officer of USCF since May 15, 2015, Management Director of USCF since October
2016 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of USCF since October 2019. Mr. Love also is a director of USCF Investments, a position
he has held since December 2016. Mr. Love previously served as a Senior Portfolio Manager for the Related Public Funds from March
2010 through May 2015. Prior to that, while still at USCF, he was a Portfolio Manager beginning with the launch of USO in April
2006. Mr. Love also served as a portfolio manager of USCF from April 2006 until April 2015. Mr. Love has served on the Board of
Managers of USCF Advisers since November 2016 and as its President since June 2015. USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, is an
investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity
pool operator, NFA member and swap firm. He also has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the USCF ETF Trust
since December 2015. Mr. Love has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since January 17, 2006. Mr. Love has been
registered as an associated person of USCF since February 2015 and from December 2005 to April 2009. Additionally, Mr. Love has
been approved as an NFA swaps associated person since February 2015. Mr. Love is a principal of USCF Advisers LLC as of January
2017. Additionally, effective as of February 2017, he is an associated person and, swap associated person of USCF Advisers. Mr.
Love earned a B.A. from the University of Southern California, holds NFA Series 3 and FINRA Series 7 registrations and is a CFA
Charterholder.
Andrew
F Ngim, 64, co-founded USCF in 2005 and has served as the Chief Operating Officer of USCF since August 2016. He also served
as a Management Director of USCF from May 2005 to April 2023. Mr. Ngim served as the portfolio manager for USCI and CPER since
January 2013. Mr. Ngim also served as USCF’s Treasurer from June 2005 to February 2012. In addition, he has been on the
Board of Managers and has served as the Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer of USCF Advisers since its inception in June
2013 and Chief Operating Officer of USCF Advisers since March 2021. Prior to and concurrent with his services to USCF and USCF
Advisers, from January 1999 to January 2013, Mr. Ngim served as a Managing Director for Ameristock Corporation, a California-based
investment adviser, which he co-founded in March 1995, and was Co-Portfolio Manager of Ameristock Mutual Fund, Inc. from January
2000 to January 2013. Mr. Ngim also serves as the portfolio manager for the following series of the USCF ETF Trust: (1) USCF SummerHaven
Dynamic Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund, from May 2018 to present, (2) the USCF Sustainable Battery Metals Strategy Fund from January
2023 to present, (3) the USCF Energy Commodity Strategy Absolute Return Fund from May 2023 to present, and (4) the USCF Sustainable
Commodity Strategy Fund from August 9, 2023 to present. Mr. Ngim served as a Management Trustee of the USCF ETF Trust from August
2014 to August 2023. Mr. Ngim has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since November 2005 and a principal of
USCF Advisers LLC since January 2017. USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, is an investment adviser registered under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and swap firm. Mr. Ngim
earned his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.
Robert
L. Nguyen, 65, Management Director and principal since July 2015. Mr. Nguyen served on the Board of USCF
Investments from December 2014 to December 2016. Mr. Nguyen co-founded USCF in 2005 and served as a Management Director until
March 2012. Mr. Nguyen was an Investment Manager with Ribera Investment Management, an investment adviser registered under the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940, from January 2013 to March 2015. Prior to and concurrent with his services to USCF, from January
2000 to January 2013, Mr. Nguyen served as a Managing Principal for Ameristock Corporation, a California-based investment adviser
registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, which he co-founded in March 1995. Mr. Nguyen was a principal of USCF listed
with the CFTC and NFA from November 2005 through March 2012 and an associated person of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA from
November 2007 through March 2012. Mr. Nguyen has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since July 2015 and an
associated person of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since December 2015. As of February 2017, he also is an associated person
of USCF Advisers. USCF Advisers, an affiliate of USCF, is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of
1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and swap firm. Mr. Nguyen earned his B.S.
from California State University at Sacramento, and holds NFA Series 3 and FINRA Series 7 registrations.
Kathryn
D. Rooney, 52, Management Director of USCF since April 2023 and Chief Marketing Officer of USCF since January 2016. Ms.
Rooney also serves as a director of USCF Advisers since March 10, 2024 and was listed as a principal of USCF Advisers effective
March 28, 2025. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The Marygold Companies, which is the parent of USCF Investments,
Inc., from January 2017 to April 2023. USCF Investments, Inc. is the sole member of USCF. Previously, Ms. Rooney was the National
Sales Director at USCF from January 2007 to December 2015. Ms. Rooney was the Director of Business Development at the Ameristock
Corporation, a California-based registered investment adviser, from September 2003 to January 2007. Prior to joining the Ameristock
Corporation, she was Regional Sales Director at Accessor Capital Management, a registered investment adviser that was based in
Seattle, Washington, from October 2002 to August 2003, National Sales Director at ALPS Mutual Fund Services, Inc., a boutique
investment services company offering outsourced back office operations and distribution services to mutual fund managers, from
June 1999 to October 2002, and Trust Officer at Fifth Third Bancorp, an American bank holding company headquartered in Ohio, from
June 1994 to May 1999. Additionally, Ms. Rooney has been registered as an associated person of USCF since August 2015 and from
December 2005 to April 2009 and is listed as a principal of USCF effective as of April 2023. Additionally, effective as of February
2017, she is an associated person of USCF Advisers, LLC, an affiliate of USCF, which is an investment adviser registered under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and, as of February 2017, is registered as a commodity pool operator, NFA member and swap
firm. Ms. Rooney graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in economics and psychology in June 1994.
Gordon
L. Ellis, 78, Independent Director of USCF since September 2005. Previously, Mr. Ellis was a founder of
International Absorbents, Inc., Director and Chairman since July 1985 and July 1988, respectively, and Chief Executive Officer
and President since November 1996. He also served as Chairman of Absorption Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of International
Absorbents, Inc., which is a leading developer and producer of environmentally friendly pet care and industrial products, from
May July 1985 until July 2010 when it was sold to Kinderhook Industries, a private investment banking firm and remained as a director
until March 2013 when Absorption Corp was sold again to J. Rettenmaier & Söhne Group, a German manufacturing firm. Concurrent
with that, he founded and has served as Chairman from November 2010 to present of Lupaka Gold Corp., a firm that acquires, explores
and developed mining properties and is currently driving an arbitration suit against the Republic of Peru. He also serves as a
director of Goldhaven Resources, a firm that acquires, explores and develops mining properties in Canada and Chile, from August
2020 to present. Mr. Ellis has his Chartered Directors designation from The Director’s College (a joint venture of McMaster
University and The Conference Board of Canada). He has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and NFA since November 2005.
Mr. Ellis is a professional engineer, retired, and earned an M.B.A. in international finance.
Malcolm
R. Fobes III, 60, Independent Director of USCF and Chairman of USCF’s audit committee since September
2005. He founded and is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Berkshire Capital Holdings, Inc.,
a California-based investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 that has been sponsoring and providing
portfolio management services to mutual funds since June 1997. Mr. Fobes serves as Chairman and President of The Berkshire Funds,
a mutual fund investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Since 1997, Mr. Fobes has also served as
portfolio manager of the Berkshire Focus Fund, a mutual fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which concentrates
its investments in the electronic technology industry. He was also contributing editor of Start a Successful Mutual Fund: The
Step-by-Step Reference Guide to Make It Happen (JV Books, 1995). Mr. Fobes has been a principal of USCF listed with the CFTC and
NFA since November 2005. He earned a B.S. in finance with a minor in economics from San Jose State University in California.
Peter
M. Robinson, 67, Independent Director of USCF since September 2005. Mr. Robinson has been a Research Fellow
since 1993 with the Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank located on the campus of Stanford University. He authored three
books and has been published in the New York Times, Red Herring, and Forbes ASAP and is the editor of Can Congress Be Fixed?:
Five Essays on Congressional Reform (Hoover Institution Press, 1995). Mr. Robinson has been a principal of USCF listed with the
CFTC and NFA since December 2005. He earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, graduated from
Oxford University in 1982 after studying politics, philosophy, and economics and graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College
in 1979.
UNL’s Service Providers
Custodian, Registrar, Transfer
Agent, and Administrator
In its
capacity as the Custodian for UNL, The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY Mellon” or the “Custodian”) holds
UNL’s Treasuries, cash and/or cash equivalents pursuant to a custody agreement. BNY Mellon is also the registrar and transfer
agent for the shares. In addition, in its capacity as Administrator for UNL, BNY Mellon performs certain administrative and accounting
services for UNL and prepares certain SEC, NFA and CFTC reports on behalf of UNL.
As compensation
for the services that BNY Mellon provides to UNL in the foregoing capacities, and the services BNY Mellon provides to the Related
Public Funds, BNY Mellon receives certain out of pocket costs, transaction fees, and asset-based fees, which are accrued daily
and paid monthly by USCF.
BNY Mellon
is authorized to conduct a commercial banking business in accordance with the provisions of New York State Banking Law, and is
subject to regulation, supervision, and examination by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System.
Marketing Agent
UNL also
employs ALPS Distributors, Inc. (“ALPS Distributors”) as the Marketing Agent, which is further discussed under “What
is the Plan of Distribution?” USCF pays the Marketing Agent an annual fee. In no event may the aggregate compensation paid
to the Marketing Agent and any affiliate of USCF for distribution-related services in connection with the offering of shares exceed
ten percent (10%) of the gross proceeds of the offering.
ALPS Distributors’
principal business address is 1290 Broadway, Suite 1000, Denver, CO 80203. ALPS Distributors is a broker-dealer registered with
the SEC and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and a member of the Securities Investor
Protection Corporation.
Payments to Certain Third
Parties
USCF or
the Marketing Agent, or an affiliate of USCF or the Marketing Agent, may directly or indirectly make cash payments to certain
broker-dealers for participating in activities that are designed to make registered representatives and other professionals more
knowledgeable about exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products, including UNL and the Related Public Funds, or for other
activities, such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development
of technology platforms and reporting systems.
Additionally,
pursuant to written agreements, USCF may make payments, out of its own resources, to financial intermediaries in exchange for
providing services in connection with the sale or servicing of UNL’s shares, including waiving commissions on the purchase
or sale of shares of participating exchange-traded products.
Payments
to a broker-dealer or intermediary may create potential conflicts of interest between the broker-dealer or intermediary and its
clients. The amounts described above, which may be significant, are paid by USCF and/or the Marketing Agent from their own resources
and not from the assets of UNL or the Related Public Funds.
Futures Commission Merchants
RBC
Capital Markets, LLC
On October
8, 2013, USCF entered into a Futures and Cleared Derivatives Transactions Customer Account Agreement with RBC Capital Markets,
LLC (“RBC Capital” or “RBC”) to serve as UNL’s FCM, effective October 10, 2013. This agreement requires
RBC Capital to provide services to UNL, as of October 10, 2013, in connection with the purchase and sale of Futures Contracts
and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments that may be purchased or sold by or through RBC Capital for UNL’s account. For
the period October 10, 2013 and after, UNL pays RBC Capital commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
RBC Capital’s
primary address is 200 Vesey St., New York, NY 10281. Effective October 10, 2013, RBC Capital became the futures clearing broker
for UNL. RBC Capital is registered in the United States with FINRA as a broker-dealer and with the CFTC as an FCM. RBC Capital
is a member of various U.S. futures and securities exchanges.
RBC Capital
is subject to complex legal and regulatory requirements that continue to evolve. It is and has been subject to a variety of legal
proceedings including arbitrations, class actions and other civil litigations, as well as to other regulatory examinations, reviews,
investigations (both formal and informal), audits and requests for information by various governmental regulatory agencies and
self-regulatory organizations in various jurisdictions. Some of these matters may involve novel legal theories and interpretations
and claims for very substantial or indeterminable damages, and some could result in the imposition of substantial civil damages
(including punitive damages), regulatory enforcement penalties, fines, injunctions or other relief. In its discretion RBC Capital
may choose to resolve claims, litigations or similar matters at any time. Based on the facts as currently known, it is not possible
to predict the ultimate outcome of such proceedings or the timing of their resolution.
The following
is a description of RBC Capital’s significant legal proceedings.
LIBOR
litigation
Royal
Bank of Canada (“RBC”), RBC Capital’s ultimate parent, and several U.S. dollar panel banks have been named as
defendants in private lawsuits filed in the U.S. with respect to the setting of U.S. dollar LIBOR including a number of class
action lawsuits which have been consolidated before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. RBC Capital
was named as a defendant in one of those lawsuits. The complaints in those private lawsuits assert claims under various U.S. laws,
including U.S. antitrust laws, the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, and state law. On December 30, 2021, the United States Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion affirming in part and reversing in part certain district court rulings that had
dismissed a substantial portion of the consolidated class action on jurisdictional grounds and lack of standing. The Second Circuit
remanded the matter to the district court for further proceedings consistent with its decision.
On July
21, 2023, RBC and several other defendants executed a settlement agreement resolving the LIBOR class action brought on behalf
of certain plaintiffs that purchased U.S. dollar LIBOR-based instruments. RBC and the other defendants agreed to a $101 million
settlement amount. On December 12, 2023, the settlement agreement was granted final court approval.
In 2024,
RBC and several other defendants executed settlement agreements resolving the two remaining LIBOR putative class actions in which
RBC was a defendant. These class actions were brought on behalf of certain plaintiffs who transacted in Eurodollar futures contracts
and/or related options on exchanges (the Exchange Action), and certain plaintiffs who originated or purchased LIBOR-linked loans
(the Lender Action). RBC and the other defendants agreed to a $3.45 million settlement amount in the Exchange Act and a $1.91
million settlement amount in the Lender Action. The settlements in both the Exchange Action and Lender Action were granted final
court approval on September 5, 2024 and October 17, 2024, respectively.
RBC remains
a defendant in certain LIBOR-related individual actions.
Royal
Bank of Canada Trust Company (Bahamas) Limited Proceedings
On April
13, 2015, a French investigating judge notified the RBC Capital’s affiliate, Royal Bank of Canada Trust Company (Bahamas)
Limited (RBC Bahamas), of the issuance of an ordonnance de renvoi referring RBC Bahamas and other unrelated persons to the French
tribunal correctionnel to face the charge of complicity in estate tax fraud relating to actions taken relating to a trust for
which RBC Bahamas serves as trustee. RBC Bahamas contested the charge in the French court. On January 12, 2017, the French court
acquitted all parties including RBC Bahamas and on June 29, 2018, the French appellate court affirmed the acquittals. The acquittals
were appealed and on January 6, 2021 the French Supreme Court issued a judgment reversing the decision of the French Court of
Appeal and sent the case back to the French Court of Appeal for rehearing.
On March
5, 2024, the Court of Appeal rendered a judgment of conviction (the Conviction) against RBC Bahamas and the other parties. RBC
Bahamas was ordered by the Court of Appeal to pay a fine in connection with the Conviction. In addition, the Court of Appeal ordered
that certain of those convicted of complicity in the matter, including RBC Bahamas, are jointly liable for the allegedly unpaid
inheritance taxes owing, plus penalties and interest (such aggregate amount will be determined in a separate proceeding before
the tax courts, the timing of which is to be determined). RBC Bahamas believes that its actions did not violate French law, and
has appealed the Conviction to the French Supreme Court. Under French law, upon the filing of an appeal by RBC Bahamas, the Conviction,
as well as its effects (fine and joint liability) were stayed pending the outcome of the appeal.
In 2016,
RBC was granted an exemption by the U.S. Department of Labor that allows RBC and its current and future affiliates, including
RBC Capital, to continue to qualify for the Qualified Professional Asset Manager (QPAM) exemption under the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act despite any potential conviction of RBC Bahamas in the French proceeding, for a temporary one year period
from the date of conviction. RBC Capital relies on the QPAM exemption in its ability to manage pension and retirement funds. On
December 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor published a technical correction to the prior one-year exemption reflecting the
fact that the then-pending Court of Appeal’s decision will be rendered by an appellate court, and not the district court.
As a result of the Conviction, the temporary one-year period commenced on March 5, 2024. RBC has sought longer term relief from
the Department of Labor.
RBC Bahamas
continues to review the trustee’s and the trust’s legal obligations, including the liabilities and potential liabilities
under applicable tax and other laws.
SEC
investigation
In October
2022, RBC Capital received a request for information and documents from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
concerning compliance with records preservation requirements relating to business communications exchanged on electronic channels
that have not been approved by RBC Capital. In August 2024, the SEC entered into a settlement with RBC Capital. RBC agreed to
a $45 million settlement amount.
U.K.
government bonds litigation
In June
2023, RBC Europe Limited and the RBC Capital, among other financial institutions, were named as defendants in a putative class
action filed in the U.S. by plaintiffs alleging anti-competitive conduct, between 2009 and 2013, in the U.K. government bonds
market. In September 2023, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint which motion was granted, without prejudice,
in September 2024. Subsequently, on October 31, 2024, RBC Europe Limited, RBC Capital and certain of the other defendants executed
an agreement to dismiss the action, with prejudice, against those defendants. The settlement agreement remains subject to court
approval.
Please
see RBC Capital’s Form BD, which is available on the FINRA BrokerCheck program, for more details.
RBC Capital
will act only as clearing broker for UNL and as such will be paid commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
RBC Capital has not passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. RBC Capital will not act in any supervisory capacity
with respect to USCF or participate in the management of USCF or UNL.
RBC Capital
is not affiliated with UNL or USCF. Therefore, neither USCF nor UNL believes that there are any conflicts of interest with RBC
Capital or its trading principals arising from its acting as UNL’s FCM.
Marex
Capital Markets, Inc., formerly E D & F Man Capital Markets Inc.
On June
5, 2020, UNL entered into a Customer Account Agreement with E D & F Man Capital Markets Inc. (“MCM”) to serve
as an FCM for UNL. On July 14, 2023, this Customer Account Agreement was terminated and replaced by a Customer Account Agreement
between UNL and Marex North America, LLC (“MNA”) dated May 28, 2020, in respect of which MCM assumed the rights and
obligations of MNA vis-à-vis UNL following the transfer of MNA’s futures clearing business to MCM as part of an internal
reorganization. This agreement requires MCM to provide services to UNL in connection with the purchase and sale of Futures Contracts
and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments that may be purchased or sold by or through MCM for UNL’s account. Under this
agreement, UNL pays MCM commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
MCM’s
primary address is 140 East 45th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10017. MCM is registered in the United States with FINRA as
a broker-dealer and with the CFTC as an FCM. MCM is a member of various U.S. futures and securities exchanges.
MCM is
a large broker dealer subject to many different complex legal and regulatory requirements. As a result, certain of MCM’s
regulators may from time to time conduct investigations, initiate enforcement proceedings and/or enter into settlements with MCM
with respect to issues raised in various investigations. MCM complies fully with its regulators in all investigations which may
be conducted and in all settlements it may reach. Except as indicated below, there have been no material civil, administrative,
or criminal proceedings pending, on appeal, or concluded against MCM or its principals in the past five (5) years.
United
States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Civil Action No. 19-CV-8217 8
In a
private litigation, plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that MCM made certain fraudulent misrepresentations to them that they
relied upon in connection with a futures account carried by MCM in its capacity as a futures commission merchant. The plaintiffs
alleged claims of common law fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith
and fair dealing and misrepresentation/omission. On June 30, 2021, MCM received the Opinion and Order in which the judge ruled
against the plaintiffs and in favor of MCM. Judgment was entered in favor of MCM in the amount of $1,762,266.57, plus prejudgment
interest and attorney’s fees and costs. On September 29, 2021, MCM received an Opinion and Order in which the judge awarded
MCM $1,402,234.32 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
JAMS
Arbitration
In a
JAMS Arbitration, claimants sought monetary damages relating to trading losses in claimants’ futures trading accounts carried
by MCM0 (the “Accounts”). The Accounts were traded pursuant to a power of attorney granted by the claimants to a registered
commodity trading advisor. Claimants sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, disgorgement of commissions and margin interest,
and forgiveness of margin debt plus interest, costs and attorneys’ fees. On September 23, 2021, the claimants and MCM settled
the matter.
FINRA
Arbitration
In a
FINRA Arbitration, claimants sought monetary damages relating to trading losses in claimants’ equity trading account carried
by MCM (the “Account”). The Account was a portfolio margin account, and the claimants alleged losses relating to the
risk parameters and margin applied to the Account. Claimants sought compensatory damage plus interest, costs and attorneys’
fees. On June 22, 2023, the panel dismissed claimants’ claims in their entirety. On September 20, 2023, claimants filed
a Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York. On November 15, 2023,
MCM filed its Memorandum of Law in Opposition to the Petition to Vacate the Arbitration Award and a Cross-Motion to Confirm the
Award and recover Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. On April 22, 2024, the claimants’ Petition to Vacate the Arbitration
Award was denied.
Cook
County Litigation
In a
private litigation, a plaintiff sought monetary damages relating to allegations of breach of contract and violation of the Illinois
Wage Payment and Collections Act. The plaintiff sought damages plus interest, costs and attorneys’ fees. The plaintiff and
MCM settled the matter and, on September 29, 2023, an Agreed Order of Dismissal with Prejudice was filed.
Adversary
Complaint
In an
adversary complaint, certain debtors seek to enforce the terms of a pledge agreement of a third-party and to recover collateral
that is allegedly the property of debtors (the “Pledged Assets”). MCM previously had custody of the Pledged Assets.
On January 4, 2023, the government provided instructions for the transfer of the Pledged Assets to a government-controlled account.
The complaint does not allege that MCM engaged in any wrongdoing or any wrongful misconduct. MCM is simply alleged to have been
the custodian of the Pledged Assets subject to the debtors’ purported claims. On January 5, 2023, MCM filed a Response and
Limited Objection to debtors’ Turnover Motion. The debtors’ Turnover Motion was denied by the Court on January 9,
2023. On April 25, 2023, BlockFi and MCM entered into a stipulation pursuant to which the adversary proceeding is stayed. BlockFi
is permitted to file an amended adversary complaint, but the proceeding otherwise will remain stayed and MCM is not required to
respond.
United
States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division No. 1:23-cv-14192
In a
private litigation, a plaintiff alleges that MCM and 2 of its employees (collectively, the “Defendants”), used Plaintiff’s
software and trade secrets in their creation of a competing software platform. Plaintiff seeks unspecified damages and costs,
as well as an injunction, prohibiting Defendants from using/benefitting from the alleged trade secrets, including the use of the
competing software platform. On November 30, 2023, the Court stayed all discovery in the case pending a ruling on Defendants’
motion to dismiss. On December 11, 2023, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint. On January 19, 2024, Plaintiff filed
an Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. On February 2, 2024, Defendants filed its Reply Brief in Support of its
Motion to Dismiss. The Court has yet to rule on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. MCM was acquired by the Marex Group in phases
during the second half of 2022 and went from doing business as E D & F Man Capital Markets, Inc. to Marex Capital Markets,
Inc.
MCM will
act only as clearing broker for UNL and as such will be paid commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL. MCM
has not passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. MCM will not act in any supervisory capacity with respect to
USCF or participate in the management of USCF or UNL.
MCM is
not affiliated with UNL or USCF. Therefore, neither USCF nor UNL believes that there are any conflicts of interest with MCM or
its trading principals arising from its acting as UNL’s FCM.
Macquarie
Futures USA LLC
On December
3, 2020, UNL engaged Macquarie Futures USA LLC (“MFUSA”) to serve as an additional FCM for UNL. The Customer Agreement
between UNL and MFUSA requires MFUSA to provide services to UNL in connection with the purchase and sale of futures contracts
that may be purchased or sold by or through MFUSA for UNL’s account. Under this agreement, UNL pays MFUSA commissions for
executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
MFUSA’s
primary address is 660 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10103. MFUSA is registered in the United States with the CFTC as an FCM providing
futures execution and clearing services covering futures exchanges globally. MFUSA is a member of various U.S. futures and securities
exchanges.
MFUSA
is a large broker dealer subject to many different complex legal and regulatory requirements. As a result, certain of MFUSA’s
regulators may from time to time conduct investigations, initiate enforcement proceedings and/or enter into settlements with MFUSA
with respect to issues raised in various investigations. MFUSA complies fully with its regulators in all investigations which
may be conducted and in all settlements it may reach. As of the date hereof, MFUSA has no material litigation to disclose as that
term is defined under the CEA and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
MFUSA
will act only as clearing broker for UNL and as such will be paid commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
MFUSA has not passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. MFUSA will not act in any supervisory capacity with respect
to USCF or participate in the management of USCF or UNL.
MFUSA
is not affiliated with UNL or USCF. Therefore, neither USCF nor UNL believes that there are any conflicts of interest with MFUSA
or its trading principals arising from its acting as UNL’s FCM.
ADM
Investor Services, Inc.
On August
8, 2023, UNL and ADM Investor Services, Inc. (“ADMIS”) entered into a Customer Account Agreement pursuant to which
ADMIS has agreed to serve as an additional FCM for UNL. The Customer Account Agreement between UNL and ADMIS requires ADMIS to
provide services to UNL in connection with the purchase and sale of futures contracts that may be purchased or sold by or through
ADMIS for UNL’s account. Under this agreement, UNL has agreed to pay ADMIS commissions for executing and clearing trades
on behalf of UNL.
ADMIS’s
primary address is 141 W Jackson Boulevard, Suite 2100a, Chicago, IL 60604. ADMIS is registered in the United States with the
CFTC as an FCM providing futures execution and clearing services covering futures exchanges globally. ADMIS is a member of various
U.S. futures and securities exchanges.
In the
normal course of its business, ADMIS is involved in various legal actions incidental to its commodities business. None of these
actions are expected either individually or in aggregate to have a material adverse impact on ADMIS.
Neither
ADMIS nor any of its principals have been the subject of any material administrative, civil or criminal actions within the past
five years, except for the following matters.
On January
28, 2020, a Commodity Exchange Business Conduct Committee Panel (“Panel”) found that between 2012 and 2018, ADMIS
learned that one of its brokerage firm clients automatically offset omnibus account positions in futures contracts using the FIFO
method and was misreporting its open positions. The Panel found that ADMIS failed to require the client to provide accurate and
timely owner and control information and continued to report inaccurate information regarding the ownership and control of the
positions through May 2018 in violation of Exchange Rules 432.Q., 432.X., and 561.C. Additionally, on multiple occasions continuing
through May 2018, ADMIS provided the Exchange with inaccurate audit trail data provided by the client. The Panel found that ADMIS
violated Exchange Rule 536.B.2.
Finally,
the Panel found that ADMIS failed to take effective measures to ensure the accuracy of its client’s purchase and sales data
reporting and its responses to the Exchange, and failed to properly supervise employees. The Panel therefore found that ADMIS
violated Exchange Rule 432.W. In accordance with an offer of settlement the Panel ordered ADMIS to pay a fine of $650,000.
In an
order issued on September 29, 2022, the CFTC found that between December 2016 and September 2019, ADMIS failed to supervise its
employees and agents in their handling of commodity interest accounts regarding the improper or fictitious trade transfer requests
and their activities relating to its business as a registered FCM to ensure compliance with the Commodity Exchange Act and it
Regulations, and to deter and detect wrongdoing in violation of CFTC Regulation 166.3. The order imposed a civil monetary fine
of $500,000.
Pursuant
to an offer of settlement in which ADMIS neither admitted nor denied the rule violation or factual findings upon which the
penalty is based, on September 19, 2023, a Panel of the Chicago Board of Trade Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”)
found that from at least January 2015 through September 2019, ADMIS failed to diligently supervise its employees and agents
in the handling of accounts carried by ADMIS and introduced by introducing brokers. Specifically, ADMIS employees and agents
failed to detect numerous instances wherein brokers employed by introducing brokers successfully requested account changes and trade
transfers between customer accounts in E-Mini Dow, Corn, Kansas City Hard Winter Wheat, Chicago Soft Winter Wheat, Soybean, and Soybean
Meal futures markets, often without the knowledge or permission of the account owners, in order to: allocate profitable trades originally
executed in accounts the brokers traded to other customer accounts the brokers controlled or managed; allocate profitable trades
from certain customer accounts into the brokers’ personal accounts; allocate positions out of the brokers’ personal
accounts and into customers’ accounts, thus allowing the brokers to avoid losses; and transfer losing trades from certain
accounts to other customer accounts the brokers controlled or managed. Additionally, the Panel found that ADMIS failed to
timely implement enhanced policies and procedures to effectively monitor, detect, and assess account change and transfer
requests. Further, despite evidence of its own deficiencies regarding account change and transfer trade abuse detection,
including customer complaints and notice of a complaint involving an employee, ADMIS failed to adequately remediate its processes,
which thereby allowed violative conduct to persist for several years. The Panel therefore concluded that ADMIS violated CBOT
Rule 432.W. In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered ADMIS to pay a $450,000 fine in connection with this case
and companion cases CME and COMEX 20-1401-BC ($175,000 of which is allocated to CBOT).
Pursuant
to an offer of settlement in which ADMIS neither admitted nor denied the rule violation or factual findings upon which the
penalty is based, on September 19, 2023, a Panel of the Commodity Exchange Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”)
found that from at least December 2016 through December 2017, ADMIS failed to diligently supervise its own employees and
agents in their handling of accounts carried by ADMIS. Specifically, ADMIS employees and agents failed to detect numerous
instances wherein an ADMIS broker successfully requested account changes and trade transfers between customer accounts in Copper futures
markets, often without the knowledge or permission of the account owner. The broker requested these changes to transfer losing
trades from a customer’s personal account to a corporate account the customer shared ownership of and the broker controlled.
Additionally, the Panel found that ADMIS failed to timely implement policies and procedures to effectively monitor, detect,
and assess account change and transfer requests. The Panel therefore concluded that ADMIS violated COMEX Rule 432.W. In accordance
with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered ADMIS to pay a $450,000 fine in connection with this case and companion cases
CME and CBOT 20-1401-BC ($100,000 of which is allocated to COMEX).
Pursuant
to an offer of settlement in which ADM Investor Services, Inc. (“ADMIS”) neither admitted nor denied the rule
violation or factual findings upon which the penalty is based, on September 19, 2023, a Panel of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that from at least January 2015 through September 2019, ADMIS failed to
diligently supervise its employees and agents in the handling of accounts carried by ADMIS and introduced by introducing
brokers. Specifically, ADMIS employees and agents failed to detect numerous instances wherein brokers employed by introducing
brokers successfully requested account changes and trade transfers between customer accounts in Live Cattle, Feeder Cattle,
Lean Hog, E-Mini S&P 500, and E-Mini NASDAQ futures markets, often without the knowledge or permission of the account
owners, in order to: allocate profitable trades originally executed in accounts the brokers traded to other customer accounts
the brokers controlled or managed; allocate profitable trades from certain customer accounts into the brokers’ personal
accounts; allocate positions out of the brokers’ personal accounts and into customers’ accounts, thus allowing the
brokers to avoid losses; and transfer losing trades from certain accounts to other customer accounts the brokers controlled
or managed. Additionally, the Panel found that ADMIS failed to timely implement enhanced policies and procedures to effectively
monitor, detect, and assess account change and transfer requests. Further, despite evidence of its own deficiencies regarding
account change and transfer trade abuse detection, including customer complaints and notice of a complaint involving an employee,
ADMIS failed to adequately remediate its processes, which thereby allowed violative conduct to persist for several years.
The Panel therefore concluded that ADMIS violated CME Rule 432.W. In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered
ADMIS to pay a $450,000 fine in connection with this case and companion cases CBOT and COMEX 20-1401-BC ($175,000 of which
is allocated to CME).
ADMIS
will act only as clearing broker for UNL and as such will be paid commissions for executing and clearing trades on behalf of UNL.
ADMIS has not passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. ADMIS will not act in any supervisory capacity with respect
to USCF or participate in the management of USCF or UNL.
ADMIS
is not affiliated with UNL or USCF. Therefore, neither USCF nor UNL believes that there are any conflicts of interest with ADMIS
or its trading principals arising from its acting as UNL’s FCM.
Commodity Trading Advisor
Currently,
USCF does not employ commodity trading advisors for the trading of UNL contracts. USCF currently does, however, employ SummerHaven
Investment Management, LLC as a commodity trading advisor for USCF’s own account and for USCI and CPER. If, in the future,
USCF employs commodity trading advisors for UNL, it will choose each advisor based on arm’s-length negotiations and will
consider the advisor’s experience, fees and reputation.
UNL’s Fees and Expenses
This
table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of UNL. You should note that you may pay brokerage
commissions on purchases and sales of UNL’s shares, which are not reflected in the table. Authorized Participants will pay
applicable creation and redemption fees. See “Creation and Redemption of Shares—Creation and Redemption
Transaction Fee,” page 72.
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees |
|
|
0.60 |
%(1) |
Other Expenses |
|
|
1.42 |
%(2) |
Net Expenses Excluding Management Fees |
|
|
0.97 |
% |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After
Fee Waiver |
|
|
1.57 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
| (1) | UNL
is contractually obligated to pay USCF a management fee equal to 0.60% per annum, which
is based on its average daily total net assets and paid monthly. |
| (2) | Based
on amounts for the year ended December 31, 2024. The individual expense amounts in dollar
terms are shown in the table below. As used in this table, (i) Professional Expenses
include expenses for legal, audit, tax, accounting and printing; and (ii) Independent
Director and Officer Expenses include amounts paid to independent directors and for officers’
liability insurance. |
The table
below shows the total dollar amount of fees and expenses paid by UNL for the year ended December 31, 2024:
Management Fees | |
$ | 117,177 | (1) |
Brokerage Commissions | |
$ | 8,179 | |
Professional Expenses | |
$ | 235,573 | |
License Fees | |
$ | 4,286 | |
Independent Director and Officer Expenses | |
$ | 9,867 | |
Registration Fees | |
$ | 0 | |
| |
| | |
| (1) | UNL
paid USCF a management fee equal to 0.75% per annum through April 30, 2024, after which
it was reduced to 0.60% per annum. |
These amounts are based
on UNL’s average total net assets, which are the sum of daily total net assets of UNL divided by the number of calendar
days in the year. They also take into account a voluntary fee waiver, whereby USCF voluntarily agreed to pay certain expenses
typically borne by UNL. The fee waiver was discontinued after April 30, 2024. For the year ended December 31, 2024, UNL’s
average daily total net assets were $18,119,892.
Breakeven Analysis
The breakeven
analysis below indicates the approximate dollar returns and percentage required for the redemption value of a hypothetical initial
investment in a single share to equal the amount invested twelve months after the investment was made. For purposes of this breakeven
analysis, we have assumed an initial selling price of $9.56 per share, which equals the NAV per share on February 28, 2025. In
order for a hypothetical investment in shares to break even over the next 12 months, assuming a selling price of $9.56 per share,
the investment would have to generate a 0% or $0 return.
This
breakeven analysis refers to the redemption of baskets by Authorized Participants and is not related to any gains an individual
investor would have to achieve in order to break even. The breakeven analysis is an approximation only. As used in this table,
(i) Professional Expenses include expenses for legal, audit, tax accounting and printing; and (ii) Independent Director and Officer
Expenses include amounts paid to independent directors and for officers’ liability insurance. You should note that you may
pay brokerage commissions on purchases and sales of UNL’s shares, which are not reflected in the table; however, UNL’s
brokerage fees and commissions are included (those costs associated with rolling futures contracts).
Assumed initial selling price per share(1) | |
$ | 9.56 | |
Management Fee (0.600%)(2) | |
$ | 0.057 | |
Creation Basket Fee (0.010%)(3) | |
$ | (0.001 | ) |
Estimated Brokerage Fee 0.050%(4) | |
$ | 0.005 | |
Interest Income (5.014)%(5) | |
$ | (0.479 | ) |
Registration Fee (0.00%)(6) | |
$ | 0 | |
New York Mercantile Exchange License Fee (0.015%)(7) | |
$ | 0.001 | |
Independent Director and Officer Expenses (0.054%)(8) | |
$ | 0.005 | |
Professional Expenses (1.300%)(9) | |
$ | 0.124 | |
Amount of trading income (loss) required for the redemption value at the end of one year to equal the initial selling price of the share | |
$ | 0 | |
Percentage of initial selling price per share | |
| 0 | % |
| (1) | In
order to show how a hypothetical investment in shares would break even over the next
12 months, this breakeven analysis uses an assumed initial selling price of $9.56 per
share, which is based on the NAV per share for UNL at the close of trading on February
28, 2025. Investors should note that, because UNL’s NAV changes on a daily basis,
the breakeven amount on any given day could be higher or lower than the amount reflected
here. |
| (2) | UNL
is contractually obligated to pay USCF a management fee of 0.60% per annum on its average
total net assets. “Average total net assets” are the sum of the daily total
net assets of UNL (the NAV of UNL calculated as set forth in “Calculating Per Share
NAV” beginning on page 67) divided by the number of calendar days in the year.
On days when markets are closed, the daily total net assets are the daily total net assets
from the last day when the market was open. See page 6 for a discussion of net assets
of UNL. |
| (3) | Authorized
Participants are required to pay a Creation Basket fee of $350 for each order they place
to create one or more baskets. This breakeven analysis assumes a hypothetical investment
in a single share, which would equal the $350 Creation Basket fee divided by the total
number of outstanding shares plus the 50,000 shares created by the Creation Basket. This
calculation will always result in a value that is below 0.010%, but for purposes of this
breakeven analysis we assume a creation basket fee of 0.010%. |
| (4) | This
amount is based on the actual brokerage fees for UNL calculated on an annualized basis
and includes an estimated half-turn commission of $3.50. A half-turn commission is the
commissions liability related to FCM transaction fees for futures contracts on a half-turn
basis. |
| (5) | For
the year ended December 31, 2024, UNL’s dividend and interest income earned on
its Treasuries, cash, and/or cash equivalents, annualized based on its average daily
total net assets, was 5.01%. This amount may not reflect the actual amount of dividend
and interest income that will be earned by UNL on a going forward basis because interest
rates rise and fall depending on market conditions. Nevertheless, USCF believes it is
reasonable to use this amount because it is based on actual dividend and interest income
recently earned and reported by UNL. |
| (6) | UNL
pays fees to the SEC and FINRA to register its shares for sale. This amount is based
on actual registration fees for UNL calculated on an annualized basis. This fee may vary
in the future. |
| (7) | The
NYMEX License Fee is 0.015% of the aggregate net assets of UNL and the Related Public
Funds, except for BNO, USCI, and CPER. For more information, see “UNL’s Fees
and Expenses.” |
| (8) | Independent
Director and Officer Expenses include amounts paid to independent directors and for officers’
liability insurance. The foregoing assumes that the average total net assets of UNL as
of December 31, 2024, which were $18,119,892, were aggregated with the average total
net assets of the Related Public Funds as of December 31, 2024, that the aggregate fees
paid to the independent directors for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $916,574 and
that the allocable portion of the fees borne by UNL based on the proportion of its average
total net assets when aggregated with the average total net assets of the Related Public
Funds equals $9,867. |
| (9) | Professional
Expenses include expenses for legal, audit, tax accounting and printing. UNL’s
costs attributable to Professional Expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024 is $235,573.
The number in the breakeven table assumes UNL had $18,119,892 in average daily total
net assets during the calendar year ended December 31, 2024. |
Conflicts of Interest
There
are present and potential future conflicts of interest in UNL’s structure and operation you should consider before you purchase
shares. USCF will use this notice of conflicts as a defense against any claim or other proceeding made. If USCF is not able to
resolve these conflicts of interest adequately, it may impact UNL and the Related Public Funds’ ability to achieve their
investment objectives.
UNL and
USCF may have inherent conflicts to the extent USCF attempts to maintain UNL’s asset size in order to preserve its fee income
and this may not always be consistent with UNL’s objective of having the value of its share’s NAV track changes in
the average price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts.
USCF’s
officers, directors and employees, do not devote their time exclusively to UNL. These persons are directors, officers or employees
of other entities which may compete with UNL for their services. They could have a conflict between their responsibilities to
UNL and to those other entities.
USCF
has adopted policies that prohibit their principals, officers, directors and employees from trading futures and related contracts
in which either UNL or any of the Related Public Funds invests. These policies are intended to prevent conflicts of interest occurring
where USCF, or their principals, officers, directors or employees could give preferential treatment to their own accounts or trade
their own accounts ahead of or against UNL or any of the Related Public Funds.
USCF
has sole current authority to manage the investments and operations of UNL, and this may allow it to act in a way that furthers
its own interests which may create a conflict with your best interests. Limited partners have limited voting control, which will
limit their ability to influence matters such as amendment of the LP Agreement, change in UNL’s basic investment policy,
dissolution of UNL, or the sale or distribution of UNL’s assets.
USCF
serves as the general partner or sponsor to each of UNL and the Related Public Funds. USCF may have a conflict to the extent that
its trading decisions for UNL may be influenced by the effect they would have on the other funds it manages. By way of example,
if, as a result of reaching position limits imposed by the NYMEX, UNL purchased natural gas futures contracts, this decision could
impact UNL’s ability to purchase additional natural gas futures contracts if the number of contracts held by funds managed
by USCF reached the maximum allowed by the NYMEX. Similar situations could adversely affect the ability of any fund to track its
benchmark futures contract.
In addition,
USCF is required to indemnify the officers and directors of UNL and the Related Public Funds, if the need for indemnification
arises. This potential indemnification will cause USCF’s assets to decrease. If USCF’s other sources of income are
not sufficient to compensate for the indemnification, then USCF may terminate and you could lose your investment.
Whenever
a conflict of interest exists or arises between USCF on the one hand, and the partnership or any limited partner, on the other
hand, any resolution or course of action by USCF in respect of such conflict of interest shall be permitted and deemed approved
by all partners and shall not constitute a breach of the LP Agreement or of any agreement contemplated hereby or of a duty stated
or implied by law or equity, if the resolution or course of action is, or by operation of the LP Agreement is deemed to be, fair
and reasonable to the partnership. If a dispute arises, under the LP Agreement it will be resolved either through negotiations
with USCF or by courts located in the State of Delaware.
Under
the LP Agreement, any resolution is deemed to be fair and reasonable to the partnership if the resolution is:
| · | approved
by the audit committee, although no party is obligated to seek approval and USCF may
adopt a resolution or course of action that has not received approval; |
| · | on
terms no less favorable to the limited partners than those generally being provided to
or available from unrelated third parties; or |
| · | fair
to the limited partners, taking into account the totality of the relationships of the
parties involved including other transactions that may be particularly favorable or advantageous
to the limited partners. |
The previous
risk factors and conflicts of interest are complete as of the date of this prospectus; however, additional risks and conflicts
may occur which are not presently foreseen by USCF. You may not construe this prospectus as legal or tax advice. Before making
an investment in UNL, you should read this entire prospectus, including the LP Agreement, which can be found on UNL’s website
at www.uscfinvestments.com. You should also consult with your personal legal, tax, and other professional advisors.
Interests of Named Experts
and Counsel
USCF
has employed Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP to prepare this prospectus. Neither the law firm nor any other expert hired by UNL
to give advice on the preparation of this offering document has been hired on a contingent fee basis. None of them have any present
or future expectation of interest in USCF, Marketing Agent, Authorized Participants, Custodian, Administrator or other service
providers to UNL.
Ownership or Beneficial
Interest in UNL
As of
February 28, 2025, none of the directors or executive officers of USCF own any shares of UNL. In addition, as of such date, UNL
is not aware of any 5% holder of its shares.
USCF’s Responsibilities
and Remedies
Pursuant
to the DRULPA (“Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act”), parties may contractually modify or even eliminate
fiduciary duties in a limited partnership agreement to the limited partnership itself, or to another partner or person otherwise
bound by the limited partnership agreement. Parties may not, however, eliminate the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Where parties unambiguously provide for fiduciary duties in a limited partnership agreement, those expressed duties become the
standard that courts will use to determine whether such duties were breached. For this reason, the LP Agreement does not explicitly
provide for any fiduciary duties so that common law fiduciary duty principles will apply to measure USCF’s conduct.
A prospective
investor should be aware that USCF has a responsibility to limited partners of UNL to exercise good faith and fairness in all
dealings. The fiduciary responsibility of USCF to limited partners is a developing and changing area of the law and limited partners
who have questions concerning the duties of USCF should consult with their counsel. In the event that a limited partner of UNL
believes that USCF has violated its fiduciary duty to the limited partners, he may seek legal relief individually or on behalf
of UNL under applicable laws, including under DRULPA and under commodities laws, to recover damages from or require an accounting
by USCF. Limited partners may also have the right, subject to applicable procedural and jurisdictional requirements, to bring
class actions in federal court to enforce their rights under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated
thereunder by the SEC. Limited partners who have suffered losses in connection with the purchase or sale of the shares may be
able to recover such losses from USCF where the losses result from a violation by USCF of the federal securities laws. State securities
laws may also provide certain remedies to limited partners.
Limited
partners should be aware that performance by USCF of its fiduciary duty is measured by the terms of the LP Agreement as well as
applicable law. Limited partners are afforded certain rights to institute reparations proceedings under the CEA for violations
of the CEA or of any rule, regulation or order of the CFTC by USCF.
Liability and Indemnification
Under
the LP Agreement, neither a general partner nor any employee or other agent of UNL nor any officer, director, stockholder, partner,
employee or agent of a general partner (a “Protected Person”) shall be liable to any partner or UNL for any mistake
of judgment or for any action or inaction taken, nor for any losses due to any mistake of judgment or to any action or inaction
or to the negligence, dishonesty or bad faith of any officer, director, stockholder, partner, employee, agent of UNL or any officer,
director, stockholder, partner, employee or agent of such general partner, provided that such officer, director, stockholder,
partner, employee, or agent of the partner or officer, director, stockholder, partner, employee or agent of such general partner
was selected, engaged or retained by such general partner with reasonable care, except with respect to any matter as to which
such general partner shall have been finally adjudicated in any action, suit or other proceeding not to have acted in good faith
in the reasonable belief that such Protected Person’s action was in the best interests of UNL and except that no Protected
Person shall be relieved of any liability to which such Protected Person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance,
gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of the Protected Person’s office.
UNL shall,
to the fullest extent permitted by law, but only out of UNL assets, indemnify and hold harmless a general partner and each officer,
director, stockholder, partner, employee or agent thereof (including persons who serve at UNL’s request as directors, officers
or trustees of another organization in which UNL has an interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise) and their respective
Legal Representatives and successors (hereinafter referred to as a “Covered Person”) against all liabilities and expenses,
including but not limited to amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines and penalties, and counsel fees
reasonably incurred by any Covered Person in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceedings,
whether civil or criminal, before any court or administrative or legislative body, in which such Covered Person may be or may
have been involved as a party or otherwise or with which such person may be or may have been threatened, while in office or thereafter,
by reason of an alleged act or omission as a general partner or director or officer thereof, or by reason of its being or having
been such a general partner, director or officer, except with respect to any matter as to which such Covered Person shall have
been finally adjudicated in any such action, suit or other proceeding not to have acted in good faith in the reasonable belief
that such Covered Person’s action was in the best interest of UNL, and except that no Covered Person shall be indemnified
against any liability to UNL or limited partners to which such Covered Person would otherwise be subject by reason of willful
misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person’s
office. Expenses, including counsel fees so incurred by any such Covered Person, may be paid from time to time by UNL in advance
of the final disposition of any such action, suit or proceeding on the condition that the amounts so paid shall be repaid to UNL
if it is ultimately determined that the indemnification of such expenses is not authorized hereunder.
Meetings
Meetings
of limited partners may be called by USCF and may be called by it upon the written request of limited partners holding at least
20% of the outstanding shares of UNL. USCF shall deposit written notice to all limited partners of the meeting and the purpose
of the meeting, which shall be held on a date not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after the date of mailing of such notice,
at a reasonable time and place. USCF may also call a meeting upon not less than 20 and not more than 60 days prior notice.
Each
limited partner appoints USCF and each of its authorized officers as its attorney-in-fact with full power and authority in its
name, place and stead to execute, swear to, acknowledge, deliver, file and record all ballots, consents, approval waivers, certificates
and other instruments necessary or appropriate, in the sole discretion of USCF, to make, evidence, give, confirm or ratify any
vote, consent, approval, agreement or other action that is made or given by the partner of UNL. However, when the LP Agreement
establishes a percentage of the limited partners required to take any action, USCF may exercise such power of attorney made only
after the necessary vote, consent or approval of the limited partners.
Termination Events
UNL will
dissolve at any time upon the happening of any of the following events:
| · | The
bankruptcy, dissolution, withdrawal, or removal of USCF, unless a majority in interest
of the limited partners within 90 days after such event elects to continue UNL and appoints
a successor general partner; or |
| · | The
affirmative vote of a majority in interest of the limited partners, provided that prior
to or concurrently with such vote, there shall have been established procedures for the
assumption of UNL’s obligations arising under any agreement to which UNL is a party
and which is still in force immediately prior to such vote regarding termination, and
there shall have been an irrevocable appointment of an agent who shall be empowered to
give and receive notices, reports and payments under such agreements, and hold and exercise
such other powers as are necessary to permit all other parties to such agreements to
deal with such agent as if the agent were the sole owner of UNL’s interest, which
procedures are agreed to in writing by each of the other parties to such agreements. |
Provisions of Law
According
to applicable law, indemnification of USCF is payable only if USCF determined, in good faith, that the act, omission or conduct
that gave rise to the claim for indemnification was in the best interest of UNL and the act, omission or activity that was the
basis for such loss, liability, damage, cost or expense was not the result of negligence or misconduct and such liability or loss
was not the result of negligence or misconduct by USCF, and such indemnification or agreement to hold harmless is recoverable
only out of the assets of UNL and not from the members, individually.
Provisions of Federal and
State Securities Laws
This
offering is made pursuant to federal and applicable state securities laws. The SEC and state securities agencies take the position
that indemnification of USCF that arises out of an alleged violation of such laws is prohibited unless certain conditions are
met.
Those
conditions require that no indemnification of USCF or any underwriter for UNL may be made in respect of any losses, liabilities
or expenses arising from or out of an alleged violation of federal or state securities laws unless: (i) there has been a successful
adjudication on the merits of each count involving alleged securities law violations as to the party seeking indemnification and
the court approves the indemnification; (ii) such claim has been dismissed with prejudice on the merits by a court of competent
jurisdiction as to the party seeking indemnification; or (iii) a court of competent jurisdiction approves a settlement of the
claims against the party seeking indemnification and finds that indemnification of the settlement and related costs should be
made, provided that, before seeking such approval, USCF or other indemnitee must apprise the court of the position held by regulatory
agencies against such indemnification. These agencies are the SEC and the securities administrator of the State or States in which
the plaintiffs claim they were offered or sold membership interests.
Provisions of the 1933
Act and NASAA Guidelines
Insofar
as indemnification for liabilities arising under the 1933 Act may be permitted to USCF or its directors, officers, or persons
controlling UNL, UNL has been informed that the SEC and the various state administrators believe that such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the 1933 Act and the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. (“NASAA”)
commodity pool guidelines and is therefore unenforceable.
Books and Records
UNL keeps
its books of record and account at its office located at 1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640, Walnut Creek, California 94596
or at the offices of the Administrator located at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York, 10286, or such office, including of
an administrative agent, as it may subsequently designate upon notice. These books and records are open to inspection by any person
who establishes to UNL’s satisfaction that such person is a limited partner upon reasonable advance notice at all reasonable
times during the usual business hours of UNL.
UNL keeps
a copy of the LP Agreement on file in its office which is available for inspection on reasonable advance notice at all reasonable
times during its usual business hours by any limited partner.
Statements, Filings, and
Reports
At the
end of each fiscal year, UNL will furnish to banks, broker dealers and trust companies (“DTC Participants”) for distribution
to each person who is a shareholder at the end of the fiscal year an annual report containing UNL’s audited financial statements
and other information about UNL. USCF is responsible for the registration and qualification of the shares under the federal securities
laws and federal commodities laws and any other securities and blue-sky laws of the United States or any other jurisdiction as
USCF may select. USCF is responsible for preparing all reports required by the SEC, CFTC, and the NYSE Arca, but has entered into
an agreement with the Administrator to prepare these reports as required by the SEC, NYSE Arca and the CFTC on UNL’s behalf.
The financial
statements of UNL will be audited, as required by law and as may be directed by USCF, by an independent registered public accounting
firm designated from time to time by USCF. The accountants report will be furnished by UNL to shareholders upon request. UNL will
make such elections, file such tax returns, and prepare, disseminate and file such tax reports, as it is advised by its counsel
or accountants are from time to time required by any applicable statute, rule or regulation.
Reports to Limited Partners
In addition
to periodic reports filed with the SEC, including annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports
on Form 8-K, all of which can be accessed on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com,
UNL, pursuant to the LP Agreement, will provide the following reports to limited partners in the manner prescribed below:
Annual
Reports. Within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, USCF shall cause to be delivered to each limited partner who was
a limited partner at any time during the fiscal year, an annual report containing the following:
| (i) | financial
statements of the partnership, including, without limitation, a balance sheet as of the
end of the partnership’s fiscal year and statements of income, partners’
equity and changes in financial position, for such fiscal year, which shall be prepared
in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America
consistently applied and shall be audited by a firm of independent certified public accountants
registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; |
| (ii) | a
general description of the activities of the partnership during the period covered by
the report; and |
| (iii) | a
report of any material transactions between the partnership and USCF or any of its affiliates,
including fees or compensation paid by the partnership and the services performed by
USCF or any such affiliate for such fees or compensation. |
Quarterly
Reports. Within 45 days after the end of each quarter of each fiscal year, USCF shall cause to be delivered to each limited
partner who was a limited partner at any time during the quarter then ended, a quarterly report containing a balance sheet and
statement of income for the period covered by the report, each of which may be unaudited but shall be certified by USCF as fairly
presenting the financial position and results of operations of the partnership during the period covered by the report. The report
shall also contain a description of any material event regarding the business of the partnership during the period covered by
the report.
Monthly
Reports. Within 30 days after the end of each month, USCF shall cause to be posted on its website and upon request, to be
delivered to each limited partner who was a limited partner at any time during the month then ended, a monthly report containing
an account statement, which will include a statement of income (loss) and a statement of changes in NAV, for the prescribed period.
In addition, the account statement will disclose any material business dealings between the partnership, USCF, commodity trading
advisor (if any), FCMs, or the principals thereof that previously have not been disclosed in this prospectus or any amendment
thereto, other account statements or annual reports.
UNL will
provide information to its shareholders to the extent required by applicable SEC, CFTC, and NYSE Arca requirements. An issuer,
such as UNL, of exchange-traded securities may not always readily know the identities of the investors who own those securities.
UNL will post the same information that would otherwise be provided in UNL’s reports to limited partners described above
including its monthly account statements, which will include, without limitation, UNL’s NAV, on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com.
Fiscal Year
The fiscal
year of UNL is the calendar year. USCF may select an alternate fiscal year.
Governing Law; Consent
to Delaware Jurisdiction
The rights
of USCF, UNL, DTC (as registered owner of UNL’s global certificate for shares) and the shareholders, are governed by the
laws of the State of Delaware. USCF, UNL and DTC and, by accepting shares, each DTC Participant and each shareholder, consent
to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Delaware and any federal courts located in Delaware. Such consent is not required
for any person to assert a claim of Delaware jurisdiction over USCF or UNL.
Legal Matters
Litigation and Claims
From
time to time, UNL may be involved in legal proceedings arising primarily from the ordinary course of its business. UNL is not
currently party to any material legal proceedings. In addition, USCF, as the general partner of UNL and the Related Public Funds
may, from time to time, be involved in litigation arising out of its operations in the ordinary course of business. Except as
described herein, USCF is not currently party to any material legal proceedings.
Optimum Strategies Action
On April
6, 2022, USO and USCF were named as defendants in an action filed by Optimum Strategies Fund I, LP, a purported investor in call
option contracts on USO (the “Optimum Strategies Action”). The action was in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Connecticut at Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-00511.
The Optimum
Strategies Action asserted claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), Rule 10b-5
thereunder, and the Connecticut Uniform Securities Act (“CUSA”). It purported to challenge statements in registration
statements that became effective in February 2020, March 2020, and on April 20, 2020, as well as public statements between February
2020 and May 2020, in connection with certain extraordinary market conditions and the attendant risks that caused the demand for
oil to fall precipitously, including the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war. The complaint was
seeking damages, interest, costs, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief.
On March
15, 2023, the court granted the USO defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint. In its ruling, the court granted the USO
defendants’ motion to dismiss, with prejudice, the plaintiff’s claims under Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act and Rule
10b-5 thereunder, and a claim for control person liability under Section 20(a) of the 1934 Act. Having dismissed all claims over
which the court had original jurisdiction, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s
state law claim under CUSA and dismissed the claim without prejudice. No notice of appeal was filed.
Settlement of SEC and CFTC
Investigations
On November
8, 2021, USCF and USO announced a resolution with each of the SEC and the CFTC relating to matters set forth in certain Wells
Notices issued by the staffs of each of the SEC and CFTC as more fully described below. On August 17, 2020, USCF, USO, and John
Love received a “Wells Notice” from the staff of the SEC (the “SEC Wells Notice”). The SEC Wells Notice
stated that the SEC staff made a preliminary determination to recommend that the SEC file an enforcement action against USCF,
USO, and Mr. Love alleging violations of Sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933
Act”), and Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.
Subsequently,
on August 19, 2020, USCF, USO, and Mr. Love received a Wells Notice from the staff of the CFTC (the “CFTC Wells Notice”).
The CFTC Wells Notice stated that the CFTC staff made a preliminary determination to recommend that the CFTC file an enforcement
action against USCF, USO, and Mr. Love alleging violations of Sections 4o(1)(A) and (B) and 6(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange
Act of 1936, as amended (the “CEA”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 6o(1)(A) and (B) and 9(1) (2018), and CFTC Regulations
4.26, 4.41, and 180.1(a), 17 C.F.R. §§ 4.26, 4.41, 180.1(a) (2019).
On November
8, 2021, acting pursuant to an offer of settlement submitted by USCF and USO, the SEC issued an order instituting cease-and-desist
proceedings, making findings, and imposing a cease-and-desist order pursuant to Section 8A of the 1933 Act, directing USCF and
USO to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations of Section 17(a)(3) of the 1933 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(3)
(the “SEC Order”). In the SEC Order, the SEC made findings that, from April 24, 2020 to May 21, 2020, USCF and USO
violated Section 17(a)(3) of 1933 Act, which provides that it is “unlawful for any person in the offer or sale of any securities
to engage in any transaction, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon the purchaser.”
USCF and USO consented to entry of the SEC Order without admitting or denying the findings contained therein, except as to jurisdiction.
Separately,
on November 8, 2021, acting pursuant to an offer of settlement submitted by USCF, the CFTC issued an order instituting cease-and-desist
proceedings, making findings, and imposing a cease-and-desist order pursuant to Section 6(c) and (d) of the CEA, directing USCF
to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations of Section 4o(1)(B) of the CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 6o(1) (B), and CFTC
Regulation 4.41(a)(2), 17 C.F.R. § 4.41(a)(2) (the “CFTC Order”). In the CFTC Order, the CFTC made findings that,
from on or about April 22, 2020 to June 12, 2020, USCF violated Section 4o(1)(B) of the CEA and CFTC Regulation 4.41(a)(2), which
make it unlawful for any commodity pool operator (“CPO”) to engage in “any transaction, practice, or course
of business which operates as a fraud or deceit upon any client or participant or prospective client or participant” and
prohibit a CPO from advertising in a manner which “operates as a fraud or deceit upon any client or participant or prospective
client or participant,” respectively. USCF consented to entry of the CFTC Order without admitting or denying the findings
contained therein, except as to jurisdiction.
Pursuant
to the SEC Order and the CFTC Order, in addition to the command to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations
of Section 17(a)(3) of the 1933 Act, Section 4o(1)(B) of the CEA, and CFTC Regulation 4.14(a)(2), civil monetary penalties totaling
two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) in the aggregate were required to be paid to the SEC and CFTC, of which
one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,250,000) was paid by USCF to each of the SEC and the CFTC, respectively, pursuant
to the offsets permitted under the orders.
In re: United States Oil
Fund, LP Securities Litigation
On June
19, 2020, USCF, USO, John P. Love, and Stuart P. Crumbaugh were named as defendants in a putative class action filed by purported
shareholder Robert Lucas (the “Lucas Class Action”). The Court thereafter consolidated the Lucas Class Action with
two related putative class actions filed on July 31, 2020 and August 13, 2020, and appointed a lead plaintiff. The consolidated
class action is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the caption In re: United States
Oil Fund, LP Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-04740.
On November
30, 2020, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint (the “Amended Lucas Class Complaint”). The Amended Lucas Class
Complaint asserts claims under the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, and Rule 10b-5. The Amended Lucas Class Complaint challenges statements
in registration statements that became effective on February 25, 2020 and March 23, 2020 as well as subsequent public statements
through April 2020 concerning certain extraordinary market conditions and the attendant risks that caused the demand for oil to
fall precipitously, including the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war. The Amended Lucas Class
Complaint purports to have been brought by an investor in USO on behalf of a class of similarly-situated shareholders who purchased
USO securities between February 25, 2020 and April 28, 2020 and pursuant to the challenged registration statements. The Amended
Lucas Class Complaint seeks to certify a class and to award the class compensatory damages at an amount to be determined at trial
as well as costs and attorney’s fees. The Amended Lucas Class Complaint named as defendants USCF, USO, John P. Love, Stuart
P. Crumbaugh, Nicholas D. Gerber, Andrew F Ngim, Robert L. Nguyen, Peter M. Robinson, Gordon L. Ellis, and Malcolm R. Fobes III,
as well as the marketing agent, ALPS Distributors, Inc., and the Authorized Participants: ABN Amro, BNP Paribas Securities Corporation,
Citadel Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman
Sachs & Company, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corporation, Morgan Stanley & Company
Inc., Nomura Securities International Inc., RBC Capital Markets LLC, SG Americas Securities LLC, UBS Securities LLC, and Virtu
Financial BD LLC.
The lead
plaintiff has filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of its claims against BNP Paribas Securities Corporation, Citadel Securities
LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Morgan Stanley & Company,
Inc., Nomura Securities International, Inc., RBC Capital Markets, LLC, SG Americas Securities LLC, and UBS Securities LLC.
USCF,
USO, and the individual defendants in In re: United States Oil Fund, LP Securities Litigation intend to vigorously contest
such claims and have moved for their dismissal.
Wang Class Action
On July
10, 2020, purported shareholder Momo Wang filed a putative class action complaint, individually and on behalf of others similarly
situated, against defendants USO, USCF, John P. Love, Stuart P. Crumbaugh, Nicholas D. Gerber, Andrew F Ngim, Robert L. Nguyen,
Peter M. Robinson, Gordon L. Ellis, Malcolm R. Fobes, III, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Citadel Securities LLC, Citigroup
Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Company, JP Morgan Securities
Inc., Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., Morgan Stanley & Company Inc., Nomura Securities International Inc., RBC
Capital Markets LLC, SG Americas Securities LLC, UBS Securities LLC, and Virtu Financial BD LLC, in the U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of California as Civil Action No. 3:20-cv-4596 (the “Wang Class Action”).
The Wang
Class Action asserted federal securities claims under the 1933 Act, challenging disclosures in a March 19, 2020 registration statement.
It alleged that the defendants failed to disclose to investors in USO certain extraordinary market conditions and the attendant
risks that caused the demand for oil to fall precipitously, including the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Saudi Arabia-Russia
oil price war. The Wang Class Action was voluntarily dismissed on August 4, 2020.
Mehan Action
On August
10, 2020, purported shareholder Darshan Mehan filed a derivative action on behalf of nominal defendant USO, against defendants
USCF, John P. Love, Stuart P. Crumbaugh, Nicholas D. Gerber, Andrew F Ngim, Robert L. Nguyen, Peter M. Robinson, Gordon L. Ellis,
and Malcolm R. Fobes, III (the “Mehan Action”). The action is pending in the Superior Court of the State of California
for the County of Alameda as Case No. RG20070732.
The Mehan
Action alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to USO and failed to act in good faith in connection with a
March 19, 2020 registration statement and offering and disclosures regarding certain extraordinary market conditions that caused
demand for oil to fall precipitously, including the COVID-19 global pandemic and the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war. The complaint
seeks, on behalf of USO, compensatory damages, restitution, equitable relief, attorney’s fees, and costs. All proceedings
in the Mehan Action are stayed pending disposition of the motion(s) to dismiss in In re: United States Oil Fund, LP Securities
Litigation.
USCF,
USO, and the other defendants intend to vigorously contest such claims.
In re United States Oil
Fund, LP Derivative Litigation
On August
27, 2020, purported shareholders Michael Cantrell and AML Pharm. Inc. DBA Golden International filed two separate derivative actions
on behalf of nominal defendant USO, against defendants USCF, John P. Love, Stuart P. Crumbaugh, Andrew F Ngim, Gordon L. Ellis,
Malcolm R. Fobes, III, Nicholas D. Gerber, Robert L. Nguyen, and Peter M. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York at Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06974 (the “Cantrell Action”) and Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06981
(the “AML Action”), respectively.
The complaints
in the Cantrell and AML Actions are nearly identical. They each allege violations of Sections 10(b), 20(a) and 21D of the 1934
Act, Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and common law claims of breach of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement,
and waste of corporate assets. These allegations stem from USO’s disclosures and defendants’ alleged actions in light
of the extraordinary market conditions in 2020 that caused demand for oil to fall precipitously, including the COVID-19 global
pandemic and the Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price war. The complaints seek, on behalf of USO, compensatory damages, restitution,
equitable relief, attorney’s fees, and costs. The plaintiffs in the Cantrell and AML Actions have marked their actions as
related to the Lucas Class Action.
The Court
consolidated the Cantrell and AML Actions under the caption In re United States Oil Fund, LP Derivative Litigation, Civil
Action No. 1:20-cv-06974 and appointed co-lead counsel. All proceedings in In re United States Oil Fund, LP Derivative Litigation
are stayed pending disposition of the motion(s) to dismiss in In re: United States Oil Fund, LP Securities Litigation.
USCF,
USO, and the other defendants intend to vigorously contest the claims in In re United States Oil Fund, LP Derivative Litigation.
Legal Opinion
Eversheds
Sutherland (US) LLP is counsel to and advises UNL and USCF with respect to the shares being offered hereby and has passed upon
the validity of the shares being issued hereunder. Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP has also provided USCF with its opinion with
respect to federal income tax matters addressed herein.
Experts
Cohen
& Company, Ltd., an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the statements of financial condition of UNL
as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, including the schedule of investments as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the
related statements of operations, changes in partners’ capital and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2024 and
2023, that appear in the annual report on Form 10-K that is incorporated by reference. The financial statements of UNL in the
Form 10-K were included therein in reliance upon the report of Cohen & Company, Ltd. dated March 4, 2025, given on its authority
of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
Spicer
Jeffries LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the statements of operations, changes in partners’
capital and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, that appear in the annual report on Form 10-K that is incorporated
by reference. The financial statements in the Form 10-K were included therein in reliance upon the report of Spicer Jeffries LLP
dated March 1, 2023, given on its authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
Effective
November 14, 2023, Cohen & Company, Ltd. replaced Spicer Jeffries LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm
of UNL.
Material U.S. Federal Income
Tax Considerations
The following
discussion summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares in
UNL, and the U.S. federal income tax treatment of UNL, as of the date hereof. In general, this discussion is applicable to a shareholder
who holds its shares as a capital asset. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of the income tax considerations
applicable to an investment in shares. For example, UNL has not described tax consequences that may be relevant to certain types
of shareholders subject to special treatment under United States federal income tax laws, including dealers or traders in securities,
commodities, or currencies, financial institutions, tax-exempt entities, insurance companies, persons holding shares as a part
of a position in a “straddle” or as part of a “hedging,” “conversion” or other integrated
transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or holders of shares whose “functional currency” is not the U.S.
dollar.
Furthermore,
the discussion below is based upon the provisions of the Code and U.S. Treasury Regulations, rulings and judicial decisions thereunder
as of the date hereof, and such authorities may be repealed, revoked or modified (possibly with retroactive effect) so as to result
in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those discussed below.
Investors
considering the purchase, ownership or disposition of shares should consult their own tax advisors concerning the U.S. federal
income tax consequences in light of their particular situations as well as any consequences arising under the laws of any other
taxing jurisdiction.
As used
herein, a “U.S. shareholder” is a beneficial owner of a share that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) a
citizen or individual resident of the United States; (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation) created or
organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia; (iii) an estate the income
of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax, regardless of its source; or (iv) a trust if (x) a court within the United States
is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more “United States persons”
(within the meaning of the Code) have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (y) the trust has made
a valid election under applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations to be treated as a “United States person” (within the
meaning of the Code). A “non-U.S. shareholder” generally is a beneficial owner of a share that is neither a U.S. shareholder
nor a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership
for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds UNL shares, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner will generally depend
upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. A partnership, or a partner of a partnership, holding UNL
shares should consult his, her, or its own tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of investing in UNL
shares.
USCF,
on behalf of UNL, has received the opinion of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, counsel to UNL, that the material U.S. federal income
tax consequences to UNL and to U.S. shareholders and non-U.S. shareholders will be as described below. In rendering its opinion,
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP has relied on the facts and assumptions described in this prospectus as well as certain factual
representations made by UNL and USCF. The opinion of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is not binding on the IRS, and as a result,
the IRS may not agree with the U.S. federal income tax positions taken by UNL. If challenged by the IRS, UNL’s U.S. federal
income tax positions might not be sustained by the courts. No ruling has been requested from the IRS with respect to any matter
affecting UNL or prospective investors.
INVESTORS
CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF SHARES SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OWN TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE APPLICATION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME
TAX LAWS TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATIONS AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. FEDERAL ESTATE OR GIFT TAX LAWS, STATE, LOCAL, AND FOREIGN
LAWS, AND TAX TREATIES.
U.S. Federal Income Tax
Status of UNL
UNL is
organized and operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of the LP Agreement and applicable state law,
and is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In addition, the trading of shares on the NYSE Arca will
cause UNL to be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Under the Code,
a publicly traded partnership is generally taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Code provides an
exception to this general rule where an entity’s gross income for each taxable year of its existence consists of qualifying
income (the “qualifying income exception”). In addition, in the case of a partnership a principal activity of which
is the buying and selling of commodities (other than as inventory) or of futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities,
“qualifying income” includes income and gain from such commodities and futures, forwards and options with respect
to commodities. In connection with the opinion provided by Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, UNL and USCF have represented, among
other items, the following to Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP:
| · | At
least 90% of UNL’s gross income for each taxable year will constitute “qualifying
income” within the meaning of Code section 7704 (as described above); |
| · | UNL
is organized and operated in accordance with its governing agreements and applicable
law; |
| · | UNL
(i) has not registered, and will not register, under the Investment Company Act of 1940,
as amended, as a management company or unit investment trust, and (ii) has not elected,
and will not elect to be treated as a business development company under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended; |
| · | UNL
has not elected, and will not elect, to be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal
income tax purposes. |
Based
in part on these representations, Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is of the opinion that UNL will be classified as a partnership
for U.S. federal income tax purposes and that it is not taxable as a corporation for such purposes. UNL’s taxation as a
partnership rather than a corporation will require USCF to conduct UNL’s business activities in such a manner that it satisfies
the qualifying income exception on a continuing basis. No assurance can be given that UNL’s operations for any given year
will produce income that satisfies the requirements of the qualifying income exception. Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP will not
review UNL’s ongoing compliance with these requirements and will have no obligation to advise UNL or UNL’s shareholders
in the event of any subsequent change in the facts, representations or applicable law relied upon in reaching its opinion.
If UNL
failed to satisfy the qualifying income exception in any year, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent
and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery, UNL would be taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax
purposes and would be subject to U.S. federal income tax imposed at corporate rates. In that event, shareholders would not report
their share of UNL’s income or loss on their U.S. federal income tax returns.
In addition,
any distributions to shareholders would be treated as dividends to the extent of UNL’s current and accumulated earnings
and profits. Subject to holding period and other requirements, any such dividend to a non-corporate distributee may be a qualified
dividend that is subject to U.S. federal income tax at the lower maximum U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to long-term
capital gains, and corporate distributees may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction. To the extent a distribution exceeded
UNL’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, such excess would be treated as a return of capital to the extent of
the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares, and would reduce the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares
accordingly (but not below zero), and to the extent that the amount of the distribution is not treated as a dividend and exceeded
the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares, such excess is treated as gain from the sale or exchange of property.
Accordingly, if UNL were treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such treatment would likely have a material
adverse effect on the economic return from an investment in UNL and on the value of the shares.
The remainder
of this summary assumes that UNL is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not taxable as a corporation.
U.S. Shareholders
U.S. Federal Income Tax
Consequences of Ownership of Shares
Taxation
of UNL’s Income. No U.S. federal income tax is paid by UNL on its income. Instead, UNL files annual information returns,
and each U.S. shareholder is required to report on its U.S. federal income tax return its allocable share of the income, gain,
loss, deduction, and credit of UNL. For example, shareholders must take into account their share of ordinary income realized by
UNL from accruals of interest on Treasuries and other investments, and their share of gain from Natural Gas Interests. These items
must be reported by the applicable shareholder without regard to the amount (if any) of cash or property the shareholder receives
as a distribution from UNL during the taxable year. Consequently, a shareholder may be allocated income or gain recognized by
UNL but receive no cash distribution with which to pay its tax liability resulting from the allocation, or may receive a distribution
that is insufficient to pay such liability. Because USCF currently does not intend to make distributions, it is likely that, in
any year UNL realizes net income and/or gain, a U.S. shareholder that is allocated income or gain from UNL will be required to
pay taxes on its allocable share of such income or gain from sources other than UNL distributions.
Allocations
of UNL’s Profit and Loss. Under Code section 704, the determination of a partner’s distributive share of any item
of income, gain, loss, deduction or credit is governed by the applicable organizational document unless the allocation provided
by such document lacks “substantial economic effect.”
An allocation
that lacks substantial economic effect nonetheless will be respected if it is in accordance with the partners’ interests
in the partnership, determined by taking into account all facts and circumstances relating to the economic arrangements among
the partners. Subject to the discussion below concerning certain conventions to be used by UNL, allocations of UNL income pursuant
to the LP Agreement should be considered as having substantial economic effect or as being in accordance with a shareholder’s
interest in UNL.
In general,
UNL applies a monthly closing-of-the-books convention in determining allocations of economic profit or loss to shareholders. Income,
gain, loss and deduction are determined on a monthly “mark-to-market” basis, taking into account accrued income and
deductions and realized and unrealized gains and losses for the month. Items of taxable income, deduction, gain, loss and credit
recognized by UNL for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year are allocated among holders in a manner that equitably
reflects the allocation of economic profit or loss.
Under
the monthly allocation convention used by UNL, an investor who holds a share as of the close of business on the last trading day
of the previous month will be treated for purposes of making allocations as if it owned the share throughout the current month
even if such investor disposes of such share during the current month. For example, an investor who buys a share on April 10 of
a year and sells it on May 20 of the same year will be allocated all of the tax items attributable to May (because the investor
is deemed to hold the share through the last day of May) but will not be allocated any of the tax items attributable to April.
The tax items attributable to that share for April will be allocated to the person who is the actual or deemed holder of the share
as of the close of business on the last trading day of March.
Under
the monthly convention, an investor who purchases and sells a share during the same month, and therefore does not hold (and is
not deemed to hold) the share at the close of business on the last trading day of either that month or the previous month, will
receive no allocations with respect to that share for any period. Accordingly, investors may receive no allocations with respect
to shares that they actually held, or may receive allocations with respect to shares attributable to periods that they did not
actually hold the shares.
By investing
in shares, a U.S. shareholder agrees that, in the absence of new legislation, regulatory or administrative guidance, or judicial
rulings to the contrary, it will file its U.S. federal income tax returns in a manner that is consistent with the monthly allocation
convention as described above and with the IRS Schedules K-1, K-3, or any successor form provided to shareholders by UNL.
UNL applies
certain conventions in determining and allocating items for tax purposes in order to reduce the complexity and costs of administration.
USCF believes that application of these conventions is consistent with the intent of the partnership provisions of the Code and
the applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations, and that the resulting allocations should have substantial economic effect or otherwise
should be respected as being in accordance with shareholders’ interests in UNL for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The
Code and existing U.S. Treasury Regulations do not expressly permit adoption of these conventions, although the monthly allocation
convention described above is consistent with methods permitted under the applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations, as well as the
legislative history for the provisions that require allocations to appropriately reflect changes in ownership interests. It is
possible that the IRS could successfully challenge UNL’s allocation conventions on the ground that they do not satisfy the
technical requirements of the Code or U.S. Treasury Regulations, requiring a shareholder to report a greater or lesser share of
items of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit than if UNL’s conventions were respected. USCF is authorized to revise
UNL’s allocation method to conform to the requirements of future U.S. Treasury Regulations.
The assumptions
and conventions used in making tax allocations may cause a shareholder to be allocated more or less income or loss for U.S. federal
income tax purposes than its proportionate share of the economic income or loss realized by UNL during the period it held its
shares. This “mismatch” between taxable and economic income or loss in some cases may be temporary, reversing itself
in a later period when the shares are sold, but could be permanent. For example, a shareholder could be allocated income accruing
before it purchased its shares, resulting in an increase in the adjusted tax basis of the shares (see “Tax Basis of Shares”,
below). On a subsequent disposition of the shares, the additional amount of tax basis might produce a capital loss the deduction
of which may be limited (see “Limitations on Deductibility of Losses and Certain Expenses”, below).
Section
754 Election. UNL has made the election permitted by section 754 of the Code, which election is irrevocable without the consent
of the IRS. The effect of this election is that, in connection with a secondary market sale, UNL adjusts the purchaser’s
proportionate share of the adjusted tax basis of its assets to fair market value, as reflected in the price paid for the shares,
as if the purchaser had directly acquired an interest in UNL’s assets. The section 754 election is intended to eliminate
disparities between a partner’s adjusted tax basis in its partnership interest and its share of the adjusted tax bases of
the partnership’s assets, so that the partner’s allocable share of taxable gain or loss on a disposition of an asset
will correspond to its share of the appreciation or depreciation in the value of the asset since it acquired its interest. Depending
on the price paid for shares and the adjusted tax bases of UNL’s assets at the time of the purchase, the effect of the section
754 election on a purchaser of shares may be favorable or unfavorable. In order to make the appropriate basis adjustments in a
cost-effective manner, UNL will use certain simplifying conventions and assumptions. It is possible the IRS will successfully
assert that the conventions and assumptions applied are improper and require different tax basis adjustments to be made, which
could adversely affect some shareholders.
Section
1256 Contracts. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, UNL generally is required to use a “mark-to-market” method
of accounting under which unrealized gains and losses on instruments constituting “section 1256 contracts” are recognized
currently. A section 1256 contract is defined as: (1) any regulated futures contract that is traded on or subject to the rules
of a national securities exchange which is registered with the SEC, a domestic board of trade designated as a contract market
by the CFTC, or any other board of trade or exchange designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and with respect to which the
amount required to be deposited and the amount that may be withdrawn depends on a system of “marking to market”; (2)
any forward contract on exchange-traded foreign currencies, where the contracts are traded in the interbank market; (3) any non-equity
option traded on or subject to the rules of a qualified board or exchange; (4) any dealer equity option; or (5) any dealer securities
futures contract.
Under
these rules, section 1256 contracts held by UNL at the end of each taxable year, including, for example, Futures Contracts and
options on Futures Contracts traded on a U.S. exchange or board of trade or certain foreign exchanges, are treated as if they
were sold for their fair market value on the last business day of the taxable year (i.e., are “marked to market”).
In addition, any gain or loss realized from a disposition, termination, or marking to market of a section 1256 contract generally
is treated as long-term capital gain or loss to the extent of 60% thereof, and as short-term capital gain or loss to the extent
of 40% thereof, without regard to the actual holding period (“60-40 treatment”).
Many
of UNL’s Futures Contracts and some of its Other Natural Gas-Related Investments will qualify as “section 1256 contracts”
under the Code. Gain or loss recognized through disposition, termination or marking-to-market of UNL’s section 1256 contracts
will be subject to 60-40 treatment and allocated to shareholders in accordance with the monthly allocation convention. Cleared
swaps and other commodity swaps will likely not qualify as section 1256 contracts. If a commodity swap is not treated as a section
1256 contract, any gain or loss on the swap recognized at the time of disposition or termination will be long-term or short-term
capital gain or loss depending on the holding period of the swap.
Limitations
on Deductibility of Losses and Certain Expenses. A number of different provisions of the Code may defer or disallow the deduction
of losses or expenses allocated to shareholders by UNL, including, but not limited to, those described below.
A shareholder’s
deduction of its allocable share of any loss of UNL is limited to the lesser of (1) the adjusted tax basis in its shares or (2)
in the case of a shareholder that is an individual or a closely held corporation, the amount which the shareholder is considered
to have “at risk” with respect to UNL’s activities. In general, the amount at risk will be a shareholder’s
invested capital plus its share of any recourse debt of UNL for which it is liable. Losses in excess of the lesser of (1) the
adjusted tax basis in a shareholder’s share or (2) the amount at risk, must be deferred until years in which UNL generates
additional taxable income against which to offset such carryover losses or until additional capital is placed at risk.
Noncorporate
taxpayers are permitted to deduct capital losses only to the extent of their capital gains for the taxable year plus $3,000 of
other income. Unused capital losses can be carried forward and used to offset capital gains in future years. In addition, a noncorporate
taxpayer may elect to carry back net losses on section 1256 contracts to each of the three preceding years and use them to offset
section 1256 contract gains in those years, subject to certain limitations. Corporate taxpayers generally may deduct capital losses
only to the extent of capital gains, subject to special carryback and carryforward rules.
For taxable
years beginning before January 1, 2026, otherwise deductible expenses incurred by noncorporate taxpayers constituting “miscellaneous
itemized deductions,” generally including investment-related expenses (other than interest and certain other specified expenses),
are not deductible. For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, such miscellaneous itemized deductions are deductible
only to the extent they exceed 2% of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the year. Although the matter is not free
from doubt, UNL believes management fees that UNL pays to USCF and other expenses UNL incurs will constitute investment-related
expenses subject to the miscellaneous itemized deduction limitation, rather than expenses incurred in connection with a trade
or business, and will report these expenses consistent with that interpretation. In addition, for taxable years beginning on or
after January 1, 2026, the Code imposes additional limitations on the amount of certain itemized deductions allowable to individuals
with adjusted gross income in excess of certain amounts by reducing the otherwise allowable portion of such deductions by an amount
equal to the lesser of:
| · | 3%
of the individual’s adjusted gross income in excess of certain threshold amounts;
or |
| · | 80%
of the amount of certain itemized deductions otherwise allowable for the taxable year. |
For taxable
years beginning before January 1, 2026, noncorporate shareholders are entitled to a deduction (subject to certain limitations)
equal to their “combined qualified business income.” “Combined qualified business income” for this purpose
includes 20% of a noncorporate taxpayer’s “qualified publicly traded partnership income.” In general, “qualified
publicly traded partnership income” includes a noncorporate taxpayer’s allocable share of “qualified items”
of income, gain, deduction, and loss. A “qualified item” for this purpose is an item of income, gain deduction, or
loss that (1) is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States and (2) included or allowed
in determining the taxpayer’s taxable income for the tax year. As discussed below, although the matter is not free from
doubt, UNL believes that the activities directly conducted by UNL will not result in UNL being engaged in a trade or business
within in the United States. See “Non-U.S. Shareholders—Withholding on Allocations and Distributions”
below. As a result, UNL does not anticipate that any of its items of income, gain, deduction, or loss will be reported as “qualified
publicly traded partnership income” eligible for the deduction for “combined qualified business income.” “Qualified
publicly traded partnership income” also includes any gain or loss from the sale of an interest in a partnership to the
extent attributable to “unrealized receivables” or “inventory” under section 751 (for a discussion of
section 751, see “Tax Consequences of Disposition of Shares” below). A noncorporate taxpayer that recognizes
any gain or loss from the sale of an interest in UNL that is attributable to “unrealized receivables” or “inventory”
under section 751 should consult with such taxpayer’s tax advisor to determine whether any portion of such gain or loss
constitutes “qualified publicly traded partnership income” eligible for the deduction for “combined qualified
business income.”
A taxpayer
is generally prohibited from deducting business interest to the extent that it exceeds the sum of (i) business interest income
of such taxpayer, (ii) 30% of the adjusted taxable income of such taxpayer, plus (iii) the “floor plan financing interest”
of such taxpayer. In the case of partnerships, this determination is made at the partnership level. To the extent that the business
income of the partnership exceeds the amount necessary to absorb all of the partnership’s business interest, such excess
amount is allocated to the partners as excess business income, which amount may be used against any business interest of the partner
(but not any other partnerships). To the extent that the partnership has any disallowed business interest expense, such amount
is allocated among the partners, reduces the partners’ adjusted tax basis in their partnership interests by their allocable
shares, and is carried forward to future years. Such carryforward may only be used as a deduction to the extent that the partnership
has excess business income in the future. In the event that a partner transfers a partnership interest with any excess business
interest carryforward amounts, such amounts increase the partner’s adjusted tax basis in its partnership interest immediately
before the transfer. Although it is not free from doubt, UNL does not anticipate that it will be treated as engaged in a trade
or business. As a result, UNL does not anticipate that any portion of its interest expense (if any) will constitute business interest
or that shareholders will be allocated any excess business income as a result of holding UNL shares.
Noncorporate
shareholders generally may deduct “investment interest expense” only to the extent of their “net investment
income.” “Investment interest expense” of a shareholder will generally include any interest accrued by UNL and
any interest paid or accrued on direct borrowings by a shareholder to purchase or carry its shares, such as interest with respect
to a margin account. Net investment income generally includes gross income from property held for investment (including “portfolio
income” under the passive loss rules but not, absent an election, long-term capital gains or certain qualifying dividend
income), less deductible expenses other than interest directly connected with the production of investment income.
To the
extent that UNL allocates losses or expenses to a shareholder that must be deferred or are disallowed as a result of these or
other limitations in the Code, the U.S. Treasury Regulations thereunder, or other U.S. federal income tax authorities, the shareholder
may be taxed on income in excess of its economic income or distributions (if any) on its shares. As one example, the shareholder
could be allocated and required to pay tax on its share of interest income accrued by UNL for a particular taxable year, and in
the same year, be allocated a share of a capital loss that it cannot deduct currently because of the limitations discussed above.
As another example, the shareholder could be allocated and required to pay tax on its share of interest income and capital gain
for a year, but be unable to deduct some or all of its share of management fees and/or margin account interest incurred by the
shareholder with respect to its shares. Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the effect of limitations
under the Code, the U.S. Treasury Regulations thereunder, and other U.S. federal income tax authorities on their ability to deduct
their allocable share of UNL’s losses and expenses.
Tax Basis of Shares
A shareholder’s
adjusted tax basis in its shares is important in determining (1) the amount of taxable gain or loss it will realize on the sale
or other disposition of its shares, (2) the amount of non-taxable distributions that it may receive from UNL and (3) its ability
to utilize its distributive share of any losses of UNL on its tax return. A shareholder’s initial tax basis of its shares
will equal its cost for the shares plus its share of UNL’s liabilities (if any) at the time of purchase. In general, a shareholder’s
“share” of those liabilities will equal the sum of (i) the entire amount of any otherwise nonrecourse liability of
UNL as to which the shareholder or an affiliate is the creditor, guarantor, or otherwise bears the economic risk of loss (a “partner
nonrecourse liability”) and (ii) a pro rata share of any nonrecourse liabilities of UNL that are not partner nonrecourse
liabilities as to any shareholder.
A shareholder’s
adjusted tax basis in its shares generally will be (1) increased by (a) its allocable share of UNL’s taxable income and
gain and (b) any additional contributions by the shareholder to UNL and (2) decreased (but not below zero) by (a) its allocable
share of UNL’s tax deductions and losses and (b) any distributions by UNL to the shareholder. For this purpose, a net increase
in a shareholder’s share of UNL’s liabilities will be treated as a contribution of cash by the shareholder to UNL
and a net decrease in that share will be treated as a distribution of cash by UNL to the shareholder. Pursuant to certain IRS
rulings, a shareholder will be required to maintain a single, “unified” adjusted tax basis in all shares that it owns.
As a result, when a shareholder that acquired its shares at different prices sells less than all of its shares, such shareholder
will not be entitled to specify particular shares (e.g., those with a higher adjusted tax basis) as having been sold. Rather,
it must determine its gain or loss on the sale by using an “equitable apportionment” method to allocate a portion
of its unified adjusted tax basis in its shares to the shares sold.
Treatment
of UNL Distributions. If UNL makes non-liquidating distributions to shareholders, such distributions generally will not be
taxable to the shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes except to the extent that the sum of (i) the amount of cash and
(ii) the fair market value (subject to certain exceptions and adjustments) of marketable securities distributed exceeds the shareholder’s
adjusted basis of its interest in UNL immediately before the distribution. Any cash distributions in excess of a shareholder’s
adjusted tax basis generally will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of shares.
U.S. Federal Income
Tax Consequences of Disposition of Shares
If a
shareholder sells its shares, it will recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and its adjusted
tax basis for the shares sold. A shareholder’s amount realized will be the sum of the cash and the fair market value of
other property received, plus its share of any UNL debt outstanding.
Gain
or loss recognized by a shareholder on the sale or exchange of shares held for more than one year will generally be taxable as
long-term capital gain or loss; otherwise, such gain or loss will generally be taxable as short-term capital gain or loss. A special
election is available under the U.S. Treasury Regulations that will allow shareholders to identify and use the actual holding
periods for the shares sold for purposes of determining whether the gain or loss recognized on a sale of shares will give rise
to long-term or short-term capital gain or loss. It is expected that most shareholders will be eligible to elect, and generally
will elect, to identify and use the actual holding period for shares sold. If a shareholder fails to make the election or is unable
to identify the holding periods of the shares sold, the shareholder may have a split holding period in the shares sold. Under
such circumstances, a shareholder will be required to determine its holding period in the shares sold by first determining the
portion of its entire interest in UNL that would give rise to long-term capital gain or loss if its entire interest were sold
and the portion that would give rise to short-term capital gain or loss if the entire interest were sold. The shareholder would
then treat each share sold as giving rise to long-term capital gain or loss and short-term capital gain or loss in the same proportions
as if it had sold its entire interest in UNL.
Under
section 751 of the Code, a portion of a shareholder’s gain or loss from the sale of shares (regardless of the holding period
for such shares), will be separately computed and taxed as ordinary income or loss to the extent attributable to “unrealized
receivables” or “inventory” owned by UNL. The term “unrealized receivables” includes, among other
things, market discount bonds and short-term debt instruments to the extent such items would give rise to ordinary income if sold
by UNL. However, the short-term capital gain on section 1256 contracts resulting from 60-40 treatment, described above, should
not be subject to this rule.
If some
or all of a shareholder’s shares are lent by its broker or other agent to a third party — for example, for use by
the third party in covering a short sale — the shareholder may be considered as having made a taxable disposition of the
loaned shares. Shareholders desiring to avoid the consequences of a deemed disposition of their shares are urged to seek advice
from their tax advisors.
Other U.S. Federal Income
Tax Matters
Information
Reporting. UNL will report tax information to the beneficial owners of shares and the IRS. Shareholders of UNL are generally
treated as its beneficial owners for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, UNL will furnish its shareholders each year
with tax information on IRS Schedule K-1 and, if applicable, IRS Schedule K-3 (Form 1065), which will be used by the shareholders
in completing their tax returns. The IRS has ruled that assignees of partnership interests who have not been admitted to a partnership
as partners, but who have the capacity to exercise substantial dominion and control over the assigned partnership interests, will
be considered beneficial owners for U.S. federal income tax purposes. On the basis of such ruling, and except as otherwise provided
herein, UNL will treat any person whose shares are held on their behalf by a broker or other nominee as a shareholder, if that
person has the right to direct the nominee in the exercise of all substantive rights attendant to the ownership of the shares.
Persons
who hold an interest in UNL as a nominee for another person are required to furnish to us the following information: (1) the name,
address, and taxpayer identification number of the beneficial owner and the nominee; (2) whether the beneficial owner is (a) a
person that is not a U.S. person, (b) a foreign government, an international organization, or any wholly-owned agency or instrumentality
of either of the foregoing, or (c) a tax-exempt entity; (3) the amount and description of shares acquired or transferred for the
beneficial owner; and (4) certain information, including the dates of acquisitions and transfers, means of acquisitions and transfers,
and acquisition cost for purchases, as well as the amount of net proceeds from sales. Brokers and financial institutions are required
to furnish additional information, including whether they are U.S. persons and certain information on shares they acquire, hold
or transfer for their own account. The nominee is required to supply the beneficial owner of the shares with the information furnished
to UNL. Penalties may apply with respect to the failure to report required information.
Partnership
Audit Procedures. The IRS may audit the U.S. federal income tax returns filed by UNL. Partnerships are generally treated as
separate entities for purposes of U.S. federal income tax audits, judicial review of administrative adjustments by the IRS, and
tax settlement proceedings. The tax treatment of partnership items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit are determined
at the partnership level in a unified partnership proceeding rather than in separate proceedings with the shareholders.
UNL may
be liable for U.S. federal income tax on any “imputed underpayment” resulting from an adjustment due to an IRS audit.
The amount of the imputed underpayment generally includes increases in allocations of items of income or gains to any shareholder
and decreases in allocations of items of deduction, loss, or credit to any shareholder without any offset for any corresponding
reductions in allocations of items of income or gain to any shareholder or increases in allocations of items of deduction, loss,
or credit to any shareholder. If UNL is required to pay any U.S. federal income tax arising from an imputed underpayment, the
resulting tax liability would reduce the net assets of UNL and would likely have an adverse impact on the value of the shares.
Under certain circumstances, UNL may be eligible to make an election to cause the shareholders to take into account the amount
of any imputed underpayment, including any interest and penalties. The ability of a publicly traded partnership such as UNL to
elect this treatment is uncertain. If the election is made, UNL would be required to provide shareholders who owned beneficial
interests in the shares in the year to which the adjusted allocations relate with a statement setting forth their proportionate
shares of the adjustment (“Adjusted K-1s”). The shareholders would be required to take the adjustment into account
in the taxable year in which the Adjusted K-1s are issued. The Code generally requires UNL to designate one person as the “partnership
representative” who has sole authority to defend against an audit with the IRS, challenge any adjustment in a court of law,
and settle any audit or other proceeding. The LP Agreement appoints USCF as the partnership representative of UNL.
Reportable
Transaction Disclosure Rules. In certain circumstances, the Code, U.S. Treasury Regulations, and certain IRS administrative
guidance require that the IRS be notified of certain taxable transactions through a disclosure statement attached to a taxpayer’s
U.S. federal income tax return. These disclosure rules may apply to transactions, irrespective of whether they are structured
to achieve particular tax benefits. These disclosure rules could require disclosure by UNL or shareholders, if a shareholder incurs
a loss in excess of a specified threshold from a sale or redemption of its shares or possibly in other circumstances. While these
rules generally do not require disclosure of a loss recognized on the disposition of an asset in which the taxpayer has a “qualifying
basis” (generally is an adjusted tax basis equal to and solely determined by the amount of cash paid by the taxpayer for
such asset) and satisfies certain other requirements, they do apply to a loss recognized with respect to interests in a pass-through
entity, such as the shares. Significant penalties may be imposed in connection with a failure to comply with these reporting requirements.
Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors concerning the application of these reporting requirements to their specific
situation.
Additional
Tax on Investment Income. Individuals with income in excess of $200,000 ($250,000 in the case of married individuals filing
jointly), and certain estates and trusts, are subject to an additional 3.8% tax on their “net investment income,”
which generally includes income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, rents, and net capital gains (other than certain
amounts earned from trades or businesses). The income subject to the additional 3.8% tax includes any income from businesses involved
in the trading of financial instruments or commodities.
Regulated
Investment Companies. Interests in and income from “qualified publicly traded partnerships” satisfying certain
gross income tests are treated as qualifying assets and income, respectively, for purposes of determining eligibility for regulated
investment company (“RIC”) status. A RIC may invest up to 25% of its assets in interests in one or more qualified
publicly traded partnerships. The determination of whether a publicly traded partnership, such as UNL, is a qualified publicly
traded partnership is made on an annual basis. UNL expects to be a qualified publicly traded partnership in each of its taxable
years. However, such qualification is not assured.
Non-U.S. Shareholders
Subject
to the discussion below concerning FATCA (as defined below) and backup withholding, generally, non-U.S. shareholders who derive
U.S. source income or gain from investing or engaging in a U.S. business are subject to tax in the United States with respect
to two categories of income. The first category consists of amounts that are fixed, determinable, annual and periodic income,
such as interest, dividends and rent that are not connected with the operation of a U.S. trade or business (“FDAP”).
The second category is income that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business (“ECI”).
FDAP income (other than interest that is considered “portfolio interest”) is generally subject to a withholding tax
imposed at a 30% rate, which may be reduced for certain categories of income by an income tax treaty between the United States
and the recipient’s country of residence. In contrast, ECI is generally subject to U.S. tax on a net basis at graduated
rates upon the filing of a U.S. tax return.
Withholding
on Allocations and Distributions. The Code provides that if partnership is engaged in the conduct of a U.S. trade or business
during a taxable year, a non-U.S. shareholder who is a partner in the partnership will also be considered to be engaged in the
conduct of a U.S. trade or business during that year. Classifying an activity by a partnership as an investment or an operating
business is a factual determination. Under certain safe harbors in the Code, an investment fund whose activities consist of trading
in stocks, securities, or commodities for its own account generally will not be considered to be engaged in the conduct of a U.S.
trade or business, unless it is a dealer in such stocks, securities, or commodities. This safe harbor applies to investments in
commodities only if the commodities are of a kind customarily dealt on an organized commodity exchange and if the transaction
is of a kind customarily consummated at such place. Although the matter is not free from doubt, UNL believes that the activities
directly conducted by UNL will not result in UNL being engaged in the conduct of a trade or business within in the United States.
However, there can be no assurance that the IRS would not successfully assert that UNL’s activities constitute a U.S. trade
or business.
In the
event that UNL’s activities were considered to constitute a U.S. trade or business, UNL would be required to withhold at
the highest rate specified in section 1 of the Code (currently 37% (39.6% for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025))
on allocations of income to individual non-U.S. shareholders, and the highest rate specified in Code Section 11(b) (currently
21%) on allocations of income to corporate non-U.S. shareholders when such income is allocated or distributed. A non-U.S. shareholder
with ECI will generally be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return, and the return will provide the non-U.S. shareholder
with the mechanism to seek a refund of any withholding in excess of such shareholder’s actual U.S. federal income tax liability.
Any amount withheld by UNL on behalf of a non-U.S. shareholder will be treated as a distribution to the non-U.S. shareholder to
the extent possible. In some cases, UNL may not be able to match the economic cost of satisfying its withholding obligations to
a particular non-U.S. shareholder, which may result in such cost being borne by UNL, generally, and accordingly, by all shareholders.
If UNL
is not treated as engaged in the conduct of a U.S. trade or business, a non-U.S. shareholder may nevertheless be treated as having
FDAP income, with respect to its allocable share of UNL’s income that consists of FDAP income. Such allocations would be
subject to withholding tax imposed at a 30% rate (possibly subject to reduction by an income tax treaty). Amounts withheld on
behalf of a non-U.S. shareholder will be treated as being distributed to such shareholder to the extent possible. In some cases,
UNL may not be able to match the economic cost of satisfying its withholding obligations to a particular non-U.S. shareholder,
which may result in such cost being borne by UNL, generally, and accordingly, by all shareholders.
To the
extent any interest income allocated to a non-U.S. shareholder that otherwise constitutes FDAP is considered “portfolio
interest,” neither the allocation of such interest income to the non-U.S. shareholder nor a subsequent distribution of such
interest income to the non-U.S. shareholder will be subject to withholding, provided that the non-U.S. shareholder is not otherwise
engaged in the conduct of a trade or business in the United States and provides UNL with a timely and properly completed and executed
IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form. In general, “portfolio interest” is interest paid on debt obligations
issued in registered form, unless the “recipient” owns 10% or more of the voting power of the issuer.
UNL expects
that most of its interest income will qualify as “portfolio interest.” In order for UNL to avoid withholding on any
interest income allocable to non-U.S. shareholders that would qualify as “portfolio interest,” it will be necessary
for all non-U.S. shareholders to provide UNL with a timely and properly completed and executed Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or other
applicable form). If a non-U.S. shareholder fails to provide a properly completed Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form,
USCF may request that the non-U.S. shareholder provide, within 15 days after the request by USCF, a properly completed Form W-8BEN,
W-8BEN-E, or other applicable form.
U.S.
Treasury Regulations require withholding on certain distributions made by a publicly traded partnership. An exception under these
rules applies if a publicly traded partnership certifies that it is not engaged in a trade or business within the United States
at any time during its taxable year through the publicly traded partnership’s designated date. In order to make this certification,
the publicly traded partnership must issue a “qualified notice” indicating that it qualifies for this exception. A
broker may not rely on such a certification if it has actual knowledge that the certification is incorrect or unreliable. UNL
intends to issue qualified notices that satisfy the applicable requirements and which confirms this exception from withholding.
Certain aspects of these rules remain unclear. Until the IRS issues guidance further clarifying these rules, non-U.S. shareholders
are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the impact of these rules on an investment in UNL shares, and brokers are urged
consult their tax advisors in making withholding decisions pursuant to these rules.
Gain
from Sale of Shares. Subject to the discussion below concerning FATCA (as defined below) and backup withholding, gain from
the sale or exchange of the shares may be taxable to a non-U.S. shareholder if the non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien
individual who is present in the U.S. for 183 days or more during the taxable year. In such case, the nonresident alien individual
will be subject to withholding tax imposed at a rate of 30% on the amount of such individual’s gain. In addition, if UNL
is treated as being engaged in a U.S. trade or business, a portion of the gain on the sale or exchange will be treated as effectively
connected income subject to U.S. federal income tax to the extent that a sale of UNL’s assets would give rise to effectively
connected income. Section 1446(f) of the Code provides that certain transfers of a partnership interest, including an interest
in a publicly traded partnership, may be subject to withholding tax imposed at a rate of 10%.
Under
U.S. Treasury Regulations, brokers generally are required to withhold on certain transfers of interests in partnerships, including
interests in publicly traded partnerships. An exception under these rules applies if a publicly traded partnership certifies that
it is not engaged in a trade or business within the United States at any time during its taxable year through the publicly traded
partnership’s designated date. In order to make this certification, the publicly traded partnership must issue a “qualified
notice” indicating that it qualifies for this exception. A broker may not rely on such a certification if it has actual
knowledge that the certification is incorrect or unreliable. UNL intends to issue qualified notices that satisfy the applicable
requirements and which confirms this exception from withholding. In addition, certain aspects of these rules remain unclear. Until
the IRS issues guidance further clarifying these rules, non-U.S. shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding
the impact of these rules on an investment in UNL shares, and brokers are urged to consult their tax advisors in making withholding
decisions pursuant to these rules.
Branch
Profits Tax on Corporate Non-U.S. Shareholders. In addition to the taxes noted above, any non-U.S. shareholders that derive
ECI and are classified as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes may also be subject to an additional tax, the branch
profits tax, at a rate of 30% (or a reduced rate pursuant to an applicable income tax treaty). The branch profits tax is imposed
on a corporate non-U.S. shareholder’s dividend equivalent amount, which generally consists of the corporation’s after-tax
earnings and profits that are effectively connected with the conduct of the corporation’s U.S. trade or business but are
not reinvested in a U.S. trade or business.
Prospective
non-U.S. shareholders should consult their tax advisor with regard to these and other issues unique to non-U.S. shareholders.
Backup Withholding
U.S.
Shareholders.
A U.S. shareholder
may be subject to information reporting and backup withholding when such U.S. shareholder receives taxable distributions
on the shares and proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the shares (including a redemption of the shares). Certain U.S. shareholders,
including, but not limited to, banks and corporations, generally are exempt from information reporting and backup withholding.
A U.S. shareholder will be subject to backup withholding if such U.S. shareholder is not otherwise exempt and:
| · | such
U.S. shareholder fails to furnish the U.S. shareholder’s U.S. taxpayer identification
number or “TIN,” which, for an individual, generally is his or her U.S. social
security number; |
| · | the
IRS notifies the payor that such U.S. shareholder furnishes an incorrect U.S. TIN; |
| · | UNL
is notified by the IRS that the U.S. shareholder has failed properly to report payments
of interest or dividends; or |
| · | such
U.S. shareholder fails to certify, under penalties of perjury, on an IRS Form W-9
(Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) or a suitable substitute
form (or other applicable certificate), that the U.S. shareholder has furnished
a correct U.S. TIN and that the IRS has not notified the U.S. shareholder that the
U.S. shareholder is subject to backup withholding. |
U.S. shareholders
should consult their tax advisors regarding their qualification for an exemption from backup withholding and the procedures for
obtaining such an exemption, if applicable. Backup withholding is not an additional U.S. federal income tax, and taxpayers may
use amounts withheld as a credit against their U.S. federal income tax liability or may claim a refund if they timely provide
certain information to the IRS.
Non-U.S.
Shareholders.
The amount
of taxable distributions that UNL pays to any documented non-U.S. shareholder on the shares will be reported to the non-U.S. shareholder
and to the IRS annually on an IRS Form 1042-S, regardless of the amount of U.S. federal income tax withheld. Copies of these
information returns may also be made available under the provisions of a specific income tax treaty or agreement with the tax
authorities of the country in which the non-U.S. shareholder resides. However, a non-U.S. shareholder generally will
not be subject to backup withholding and certain other information reporting with respect to payments that UNL makes to the non-U.S. shareholder,
provided that UNL does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such non-U.S. shareholder is a “United States
person” within the meaning of the Code, and the non-U.S. shareholder complies with applicable certification and disclosure
requirements and furnishes to us the requisite information.
If a
non-U.S. shareholder sells or exchanges a share through a United States broker or the United States office of a
foreign broker or such sale is deemed to occur through a United States office of a foreign broker, the proceeds from such
sale or exchange will be subject to information reporting and backup withholding, unless the non-U.S. shareholder provides
a withholding certificate establishing that such holder is not a U.S. shareholder to the broker and such broker does not
have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a U.S. shareholder, or the non-U.S. shareholder is an exempt
recipient eligible for an exemption from information reporting and backup withholding. If a non-U.S. shareholder sells or
exchanges a share through the foreign office of a broker who is a “United States person” (within the meaning
of the Code) or has certain enumerated connections with the United States, the proceeds from such sale or exchange will be subject
to information reporting, unless the non-U.S. shareholder provides to such broker a withholding certificate establishing
that such shareholder is not a U.S. shareholder and such broker does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such
evidence is false, or the non-U.S. shareholder is an exempt recipient eligible for an exemption from information reporting.
In circumstances where information reporting by the foreign office of such a broker is required, backup withholding will be required
only if the broker has actual knowledge that the holder is a U.S. shareholder.
A non-U.S. shareholder
generally will be entitled to credit any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules against the non-U.S. shareholder’s
U.S. federal income tax liability or may claim a refund, provided that the required information is furnished to the IRS in
a timely manner.
Non-U.S. shareholders
are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the application of information reporting and backup withholding to their particular
situations, the availability of an exemption therefrom, and the procedures for obtaining such an exemption, if available.
Foreign Account Tax Compliance
Act Provisions
Legislation
commonly referred to as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act,” or “FATCA,” generally imposes a 30%
withholding tax on payments of certain types of income to foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”), unless such FFIs
either: (1) enter into an agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department to report certain required information with respect to accounts
held by certain specified U.S. persons (or held by foreign entities that have certain specified U.S. persons as substantial owners)
or (2) reside in a jurisdiction that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement (“IGA”) with the United States
to collect and share such information and comply with the terms of such IGA and any enabling legislation or regulations. The types
of income subject to the tax include U.S.-source interest and dividends. While the Code would also require withholding on the
payments of the gross proceeds from the sale of any property that could produce U.S.-source interest or dividends, the U.S. Treasury
Department has indicated its intent to eliminate this requirement in proposed regulations, which state that taxpayers may rely
on the proposed regulations until final regulations are issued. The information required to be reported includes the identity
and taxpayer identification number of each account holder that is a specified U.S. person and financial information associated
with the holder’s account. In addition, subject to certain exceptions, this legislation also imposes a 30% withholding tax
on certain payments to certain foreign entities that are not FFIs unless the foreign entity certifies that it does not have a
greater than 10% owner that is a specified U.S. person or provides the withholding agent with identifying information on each
greater than 10% owner that is a specified U.S. person. Depending on the status of a beneficial owner and the status of the intermediaries
through which the owner holds its shares, a beneficial owner could be subject to this 30% withholding tax with respect to distributions
on its shares. Under certain circumstances, a beneficial owner might be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes.
Other Tax Considerations
In addition
to U.S. federal income taxes, shareholders may be subject to other taxes, such as foreign (non-U.S.) income taxes; state and local
income taxes; unincorporated business taxes; business franchise taxes; gift, estate, or inheritance taxes; or intangible taxes
that may be imposed by the various jurisdictions in which UNL does business or owns property or where the shareholders reside.
Although an analysis of these various taxes is not presented here, each prospective shareholder should consider their potential
impact on its investment in UNL. It is each shareholder’s responsibility to file the appropriate U.S. federal, state, local,
and foreign tax returns. Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP has not provided an opinion concerning any aspects of state, local, or
foreign tax, or U.S. federal tax other than those U.S. federal income tax issues discussed herein.
Certain ERISA and Related
Considerations
General
Many
employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”) are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) or the Code, or both. This section discusses certain considerations that arise under
ERISA and the Code that a fiduciary of: (i) an employee benefit plan as defined in ERISA; (ii) a plan as defined in Section 4975
of the Code; or (iii) any collective investment vehicle, business trust, investment partnership, pooled separate account or other
entity the assets of which are treated as comprised (at least in part) of “plan assets” under the ERISA plan asset
rules (“plan asset entity”); who has investment discretion should take into account before deciding to invest in the
entity’s assets in UNL. Employee benefit plans, plans defined under Section 4975 of the Code and plan asset entities are
collectively referred to below as “plans”, and fiduciaries with investment discretion are referred to below as “plan
fiduciaries.”
This
summary is based on the provisions of ERISA, the Code and applicable guidance as of the date hereof. This summary is not intended
to be complete, but only to address certain questions under ERISA and the Code. The summary does not include state or local law.
Potential
plan investors are urged to consult with their own professional advisors concerning the appropriateness of an investment in UNL
and the manner in which limited partnership interests should be purchased. USCF does not represent that the limited partnership
interests hereby offered are appropriate for plans or any particular plan.
Special Investment Considerations
Investments
by plans governed by ERISA are subject to ERISA’s fiduciary requirements, including the requirements of investment prudent
and diversification. As a result, each plan fiduciary must consider the facts and circumstances that are relevant to their plan’s
specific circumstances when evaluating an investment in UNL, including the role that an investment in UNL would play in the plan’s
overall investment portfolio, taking into account the plan’s purpose, the risk and loss of potential return with respect
to the investment, the liquidity, the current return of the total portfolio relative to the anticipated cash flow needs of the
plan, and the projected return of the portfolio and relative to the plan’s investment objectives. Each plan fiduciary, before
deciding to invest in UNL, must be satisfied that its investment in the limited partnership interests in UNL is prudent for the
plan, that the investments of the plan are properly diversified and that an investment in UNL complies with the terms of the plan.
UNL and Plan Assets
Regulations
issued under ERISA contains rules for determining when an investment by a plan in an equity interest of a limited partnership
will result in the underlying assets of the partnership being deemed “plan assets” for purposes of ERISA and Section
4975 of the Code. Those rules provide that assets of a limited partnership will not be deemed to be assets of a plan that purchases
an equity interest in the partnership if the equity interest purchased qualifies as a publicly-offered security. If the underlying
assets of a limited partnership are considered to be assets of any plan for purposes of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, the
operations of that partnership would be subject to and, in some cases, limited by, the provisions of ERISA and Section 4975 of
the Code.
An equity
interest will qualify as a publicly offered security if it is:
| 1. | freely
transferable (determined based on the relevant facts and circumstances); |
| 2. | part
of a class of securities that is widely held (meaning that the class of securities is
owned by 100 or more investors independent of the issuer and of each other); and |
| 3. | either
(a) part of a class of securities registered under Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the 1934
Act or (b) sold to the plan as part of a public offering pursuant to an effective registration
statement under the 1933 Act and the class of which such security is a part is registered
under the 1934 Act within 120 days (or such later time as may be allowed by the SEC)
after the end of the fiscal year of the issuer in which the offering of such security
occurred. |
Regulations
under ERISA state that the determination of whether a security is “freely transferable” is to be made based on all
of the relevant facts and circumstances. In the case of a security that is part of an offering in which the minimum investment
is $10,000 or less, the following requirements, alone or in combination, ordinarily will not affect a finding that the security
is freely transferable: (1) a requirement that no transfer or assignment of the security or rights relating to the security be
made that would violate any federal or state law, (2) a requirement that no transfer or assignment be made without advance written
notice given to the entity that issued the security, and (3) any restriction on the substitution of an assignee as a limited partner
of a partnership, including a general partner consent requirement, provided that the economic benefits of ownership of the assignor
may be transferred or assigned without regard to such restriction or consent (other than compliance with any of the foregoing
restrictions).
USCF
believes that the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to the limited partnership interests. USCF believes that
the limited partnership interests therefore constitute publicly-offered securities, and the underlying assets of UNL will not
be deemed to be “plan assets” under applicable ERISA regulations.
Prohibited Transactions
ERISA
and the Code generally prohibit certain transactions involving plans and persons who have certain specified relationships to plans.
In general,
UNL limited partnership interests may not be purchased with the assets of a plan if USCF, the clearing brokers, the trading advisors
(if any), or any of their affiliates, agents or employees:
| · | exercise
any discretionary authority or discretionary control with respect to management of the
plan; |
| · | exercise
any authority or control with respect to management or disposition of the assets of the
plan; |
| · | render
investment advice for a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect, with respect to
any money or other property of the plan; |
| · | have
any authority or responsibility to render investment advice with respect to any money
or other property of the plan; or |
| · | have
any discretionary authority or discretionary responsibility in the administration of
the plan. |
Also,
a prohibited transaction may occur under ERISA or the Code when circumstances indicate that (1) the investment in an equity interest
is made or retained for the purpose of avoiding application of the fiduciary standards of ERISA, (2) the investment in an equity
interest share constitutes an arrangement under which UNL is expected to engage in transactions that would otherwise be prohibited
if entered into directly by the plan purchasing the share, (3) the investing plan, by itself, has the authority or influence to
cause UNL to engage in such transactions, or (4) a person who is prohibited from transacting with the investing plan may, but
only with the aid of certain of its affiliates and the investing plan, cause UNL to engage in such transactions with such person.
Special IRA Rules
Individual
retirement accounts (“IRAs”) are not subject to ERISA’s fiduciary standards, but are subject to their own rules,
including the prohibited transaction rules of Section 4975 of the Code, which generally mirror ERISA’s prohibited transaction
rules. For example, IRAs are subject to special custody rules and must maintain a qualifying IRA custodial arrangement separate
and distinct from UNL and its custodial arrangement. Otherwise, if a separate qualifying custodial arrangement is not maintained,
an investment in the limited partnership interests will be treated as a distribution from the IRA. Additionally, IRAs are prohibited
from investing in certain commingled investments, and USCF makes no representation regarding whether an investment in limited
partnership interests is an inappropriate commingled investment for an IRA. Finally, in applying the prohibited transaction provisions
of Section 4975 of the Code, in addition to the rules summarized above, the individual for whose benefit the IRA is maintained
is also treated as the creator of the IRA. For example, if the owner or beneficiary of an IRA enters into any transaction, arrangement,
or agreement involving the assets of his or her IRA to benefit the IRA owner or beneficiary (or his or her relatives or business
affiliates) personally, or with the understanding that such benefit will occur, directly or indirectly, such transaction could
give rise to a prohibited transaction that is not exempted by any available exemption. Moreover, in the case of an IRA, the consequences
of a non-exempt prohibited transaction are that the IRA’s assets will be treated as if they were distributed, causing immediate
taxation of the assets (including any early distribution penalty tax applicable under Section 72 of the Code), in addition to
any other fines or penalties that may apply.
Exempt Plans
Governmental
plans and church plans are generally not subject to ERISA, and the above-described prohibited transaction provisions described
above do not apply to them. These plans are, however, subject to prohibitions against certain related-party transactions under
Section 503 of the Code, which operate similar to the prohibited transaction rules described above. In addition, the fiduciary
of any governmental or church plan should consider any applicable state or local laws and any restrictions and duties of common
law imposed upon the plan.
No view
is expressed as to whether an investment in UNL (and any continued investment in UNL), or the operation and administration of
UNL, is appropriate or permissible for any governmental plan or church plan under Code Section 503, or under any state, county,
local or other law relating to that type of plan.
Allowing
an investment in UNL is not to be construed as a representation by USCF, any trading advisor, any clearing broker, the Marketing
Agent or legal counsel or other advisors to such parties or any other party that this investment meets some or all of the relevant
legal requirements with respect to investments by any particular plan or that this investment is appropriate for any such particular
plan. The person with investment discretion should consult with the plan’s attorney and financial advisors as to the propriety
of an investment in UNL in light of the circumstances of the particular plan, current tax law and ERISA.
THE
FOREGOING SUMMARY OF ERISA CONSIDERATIONS IS BASED UPON ERISA, JUDICIAL DECISIONS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGULATIONS AND RULINGS
IN EXISTENCE ON THE DATE HEREOF, ALL OF WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. THE SUMMARY IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT ADDRESS EVERY
ERISA ISSUE THAT MAY BE APPLICABLE TO AN INVESTMENT IN UNL OR TO A PARTICULAR INVESTOR.
Form of Shares
Registered
Form. Shares are issued in registered form in accordance with the LP Agreement. The Administrator has been appointed registrar
and transfer agent for the purpose of transferring shares in certificated form. The Administrator keeps a record of all limited
partners and holders of the shares in certificated form in the registry (the “Register”). USCF recognizes transfers
of shares in certificated form only if done in accordance with the LP Agreement. The beneficial interests in such shares are held
in book-entry form through participants and/or accountholders in the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”).
Book
Entry. Individual certificates are not issued for the shares. Instead, shares are represented by one or more global certificates,
which are deposited by the Administrator with DTC and registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee for DTC. The global
certificates evidence all of the shares outstanding at any time. Shareholders are limited to (1) participants in DTC such as banks,
brokers, dealers and trust companies (“DTC Participants”), (2) those who maintain, either directly or indirectly,
a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant (“Indirect Participants”), and (3) those banks, brokers, dealers,
trust companies and others who hold interests in the shares through DTC Participants or Indirect Participants, in each case who
satisfy the requirements for transfers of shares. DTC Participants acting on behalf of investors holding shares through such participants’
accounts in DTC will follow the delivery practice applicable to securities eligible for DTC’s Same-Day Funds Settlement
System. Shares are credited to DTC Participants’ securities accounts following confirmation of receipt of payment.
DTC.
DTC has advised UNL as follows: DTC is a limited purpose trust company organized under the laws of the State of New York
and is a member of the Federal Reserve System, a “clearing corporation” within the meaning of the New York Uniform
Commercial Code and a “clearing agency” registered pursuant to the provisions of Section 17A of the 1934 Act. DTC
holds securities for DTC Participants and facilitates the clearance and settlement of transactions between DTC Participants through
electronic book-entry changes in accounts of DTC Participants.
Transfer of Shares
Transfers
of Shares Only Through DTC. The shares are only transferable through the book-entry system of DTC. Limited partners who
are not DTC Participants may transfer their shares through DTC by instructing the DTC Participant holding their shares (or by
instructing the Indirect Participant or other entity through which their shares are held) to transfer the shares. Transfers are
made in accordance with standard securities industry practice.
Transfers
of interests in shares with DTC are made in accordance with the usual rules and operating procedures of DTC and the nature of
the transfer. DTC has established procedures to facilitate transfers among the participants and/or accountholders of DTC. Because
DTC can only act on behalf of DTC Participants, who in turn act on behalf of Indirect Participants, the ability of a person or
entity having an interest in a global certificate to pledge such interest to persons or entities that do not participate in DTC,
or otherwise take actions in respect of such interest, may be affected by the lack of a certificate or other definitive document
representing such interest.
DTC has
advised UNL that it will take any action permitted to be taken by a shareholder (including, without limitation, the presentation
of a global certificate for exchange) only at the direction of one or more DTC Participants in whose account with DTC interests
in global certificates are credited and only in respect of such portion of the aggregate principal amount of the global certificate
as to which such DTC Participant or Participants has or have given such direction.
Transfer/Application
Requirements. All purchasers of UNL’s shares, and potentially any purchasers of shares in the future, who wish to
become limited partners or other record holders and receive cash distributions, if any, or have certain other rights, must deliver
an executed transfer application in which the purchaser or transferee must certify that, among other things, he, she or it agrees
to be bound by UNL’s LP Agreement and is eligible to purchase UNL’s securities. Each purchaser of shares offered by
this prospectus must execute a transfer application and certification. The obligation to provide the form of transfer application
will be imposed on the seller of shares or, if a purchase of shares is made through an exchange, the form may be obtained directly
through UNL. Further, USCF may request each record holder to furnish certain information, including that record holder’s
nationality, citizenship or other related status. A record holder is a shareholder that is, or has applied to be, a limited partner.
An investor who is not a U.S. resident may not be eligible to become a record holder or one of UNL’s limited partners if
that investor’s ownership would subject UNL to the risk of cancellation or forfeiture of any of UNL’s assets under
any federal, state or local law or regulation. If the record holder fails to furnish the information or if USCF determines, on
the basis of the information furnished by the holder in response to the request, that such holder is not qualified to become one
of UNL’s limited partners, USCF may be substituted as a holder for the record holder, who will then be treated as a non-citizen
assignee, and UNL will have the right to redeem those securities held by the record holder.
A transferee’s
broker, agent or nominee may complete, execute and deliver a transfer application and certification. UNL may, at its discretion,
treat the nominee holder of a share as the absolute owner. In that case, the beneficial holder’s rights are limited solely
to those that it has against the nominee holder as a result of any agreement between the beneficial owner and the nominee holder.
A person
purchasing UNL’s existing shares, who does not execute a transfer application and certify that the purchaser is eligible
to purchase those securities acquires no rights in those securities other than the right to resell those securities. Whether or
not a transfer application is received or the consent of USCF obtained, UNL’s shares are securities and are transferable
according to the laws governing transfers of securities.
Any transfer
of shares will not be recorded by the transfer agent or recognized by USCF unless a completed transfer application is delivered
to USCF or the Administrator. When acquiring shares, the transferee of such shares that completes a transfer application will:
| · | be
an assignee until admitted as a substituted limited partner upon the consent and sole
discretion of USCF and the recording of the assignment on the books and records of the
partnership; |
| · | automatically
request admission as a substituted limited partner; |
| · | agree
to be bound by the terms and conditions of, and execute, the LP Agreement; |
| · | represent
that such transferee has the capacity and authority to enter into the LP Agreement; |
| · | grant
powers of attorney to USCF and any liquidator of UNL; and |
| · | make
the consents and waivers contained in the LP Agreement. |
An assignee
will become a limited partner in respect of the transferred shares upon the consent of USCF and the recordation of the name of
the assignee on UNL’s books and records. Such consent may be withheld in the sole discretion of USCF.
If consent
of USCF is withheld, such transferee shall be an assignee. An assignee shall have an interest in the partnership equivalent to
that of a limited partner with respect to allocations and distributions, including, without limitation, liquidating distributions,
of the partnership. With respect to voting rights attributable to shares that are held by assignees, USCF shall be deemed to be
the limited partner with respect thereto and shall, in exercising the voting rights in respect of such shares on any matter, vote
such shares at the written direction of the assignee who is the record holder of such shares. If no such written direction is
received, such shares will not be voted. An assignee shall have no other rights of a limited partner.
Until
a share has been transferred on UNL’s books, UNL and the transfer agent may treat the record holder of the share as the
absolute owner for all purposes, except as otherwise required by law or stock exchange regulations.
What is the Plan of Distribution?
Buying and Selling Shares
Most
investors buy and sell shares of UNL in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares trade on the NYSE Arca under the
ticker symbol “UNL.” Shares are bought and sold throughout the trading day like other publicly traded securities.
When buying or selling shares through a broker, most investors incur customary brokerage commissions and charges. Investors are
encouraged to review the terms of their brokerage account for details on applicable charges.
Marketing Agent and
Authorized Participants
The offering
of UNL’s shares is a best efforts offering. UNL continuously offers Creation Baskets consisting of 50,000 shares through
the Marketing Agent, to Authorized Participants. Authorized Participants pay a $350 fee for each order they place to create or
redeem one or more Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets. The fee of the Marketing Agent, which is calculated daily and payable
monthly and borne by USCF, is equal to 0.025% of UNL’s total net assets. In no event may the aggregate compensation paid
to the Marketing Agent and any affiliate of USCF for distribution-related services in connection with this offering exceed ten
percent (10%) of the gross proceeds of this offering.
The offering
of baskets is being made in compliance with Conduct Rule 2310 of FINRA. Accordingly, Authorized Participants will not make any
sales to any account over which they have discretionary authority without the prior written approval of a purchaser of shares.
The per
share price of shares offered in Creation Baskets on any subsequent day will be the total NAV of UNL calculated shortly after
the close of the core trading session on the NYSE Arca on that day divided by the number of issued and outstanding shares. An
Authorized Participant is not required to sell any specific number or dollar amount of shares.
When
an Authorized Participant executes an agreement with USCF on behalf of UNL (each such agreement, an “Authorized Participant
Agreement”), such Authorized Participant becomes part of the group of parties eligible to purchase baskets from, and put
baskets for redemption to, UNL. An Authorized Participant is under no obligation to create or redeem baskets, and an Authorized
Participant is under no obligation to offer to the public shares of any baskets it does create.
As of
February 28, 2025, UNL had the following Authorized Participants: Citadel Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Jane
Street Capital LLC, JP Morgan Securities Inc., Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp., Morgan Stanley & Company Inc., RBC
Capital Markets LLC, SG Americas Securities LLC and Virtu Americas LLC.
Because
new shares can be created and issued on an ongoing basis, at any point during the life of UNL, a “distribution”, as
such term is used in the 1933 Act, will be occurring. Authorized Participants, other broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned
that some of their activities may result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner that would render them
statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus-delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. In addition, any
purchaser who purchases shares with a view towards distribution of such shares may be deemed to be a statutory underwriter.
Authorized
Participants will comply with the prospectus-delivery requirements in connection with the sale of shares to customers. For example,
an Authorized Participant, other broker-dealer firm or its client will be deemed a statutory underwriter if it purchases a Creation
Basket from UNL, breaks the Creation Basket down into the constituent shares and sells the shares to its customers; or if it chooses
to couple the creation of a supply of new shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand
for the shares. Authorized Participants may also engage in secondary market transactions in shares that would not be deemed “underwriting”.
For example, an Authorized Participant may act in the capacity of a broker or dealer with respect to shares that were previously
distributed by other Authorized Participants. A determination of whether a particular market participant is an underwriter must
take into account all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular
case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that would lead to
designation as an underwriter and subject them to the prospectus-delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act.
Dealers
who are neither Authorized Participants nor “underwriters” but are nonetheless participating in a distribution (as
contrasted to ordinary secondary trading transactions), and thus dealing with shares that are part of an “unsold allotment”
within the meaning of Section 4(a)(3)(C) of the 1933 Act, would be unable to take advantage of the prospectus-delivery exemption
provided by Section 4(a)(3) of the 1933 Act.
USCF
may qualify the shares in states selected by USCF and intends that sales be made through broker-dealers who are members of FINRA.
Investors intending to create or redeem baskets through Authorized Participants in transactions not involving a broker-dealer
registered in such investor’s state of domicile or residence should consult their legal advisor regarding applicable broker-dealer
or securities regulatory requirements under the state securities laws prior to such creation or redemption.
While
the Authorized Participants may be indemnified by USCF, they will not be entitled to receive a discount or commission from UNL
for their purchases of Creation Baskets.
Calculating Per Share NAV
UNL’s
per share NAV is calculated by:
| · | Taking
the current market value of its total assets; |
| · | Subtracting
any liabilities; and |
| · | Dividing
that total by the total number of outstanding shares. |
The Administrator
calculates the per share NAV of UNL once each NYSE Arca trading day. The per share NAV for a normal trading day is released after
4:00 p.m. New York time. Trading during the core trading session on the NYSE Arca typically closes at 4:00 p.m. New York time.
The Administrator uses the NYMEX closing price (determined at the earlier of the close of the NYMEX or 2:30 p.m. New York time)
for the Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX, but calculates or determines the value of all other UNL investments (including
Futures Contracts not traded on the NYMEX, Other Natural Gas-Related Investments and Treasuries) using market quotations, if available,
or other information customarily used to determine the fair value of such investments as of the earlier of the close of the NYSE
Arca or 4:00 p.m. New York time in accordance with the current Administrative Agency Agreement among the Administrator, UNL and
USCF. “Other information” customarily used in determining fair value includes information consisting of market data
in the relevant market supplied by one or more third parties including, without limitation, relevant rates, prices, yields, yield
curves, volatilities, spreads, correlations or other market data in the relevant market; or information of the types described
above from internal sources if that information is of the same type used by UNL in the regular course of its business for the
valuation of similar transactions. The information may include costs of funding, to the extent costs of funding are not and would
not be a component of the other information being utilized. Third parties supplying quotations or market data may include, without
limitation, dealers in the relevant markets, end-users of the relevant product, information vendors, brokers and other sources
of market information.
In addition,
in order to provide updated information relating to UNL for use by investors and market professionals, the NYSE Arca calculates
and disseminates throughout the core trading session on each trading day an updated indicative fund value. The indicative fund
value is calculated by using the prior day’s closing per share NAV of UNL as a base and updating that value throughout the
trading day to reflect changes in the most recently reported trade price for the active Benchmark Futures Contracts on the NYMEX.
The prices reported for those Benchmark Futures Contract months are adjusted based on the prior day’s spread differential
between settlement values for the relevant contract and the spot month contract. In the event that the spot month contract is
also the Benchmark Futures Contracts, the last sale price for those contracts is not adjusted. The indicative fund value share
basis disseminated during NYSE Arca core trading session hours should not be viewed as an actual real time update of the per share
NAV, because the per share NAV is calculated only once at the end of each trading day based upon the relevant end of day values
of UNL’s investments.
The indicative
fund value is disseminated on a per share basis every 15 seconds during regular NYSE Arca core trading session hours of 9:30 a.m.
New York time to 4:00 p.m. New York time. The normal trading hours of the NYMEX are 9:00 a.m. New York time to 2:30 p.m. New York
time. This means that there is a gap in time at the beginning and the end of each day during which UNL’s shares are traded
on the NYSE Arca, but real-time NYMEX trading prices for Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX are not available. During such
gaps in time, the indicative fund value will be calculated based on the end of day price of such Futures Contracts from the NYMEX’s
immediately preceding trading session. In addition, other Futures Contracts, Other Natural Gas-Related Investments and Treasuries
held by UNL will be valued by the Administrator, using rates and points received from client-approved third-party vendors (such
as Reuters and WM Company) and advisor quotes. These investments will not be included in the indicative fund value.
The NYSE
Arca disseminates the indicative fund value through the facilities of CTA/CQ High Speed Lines. In addition, the indicative fund
value is published on the NYSE Arca’s website and is available through on-line information services such as Bloomberg and
Reuters.
Dissemination
of the indicative fund value provides additional information that is not otherwise available to the public and is useful to investors
and market professionals in connection with the trading of UNL shares on the NYSE Arca. Investors and market professionals are
able throughout the trading day to compare the market price of UNL and the indicative fund value. If the market price of UNL shares
diverges significantly from the indicative fund value, market professionals will have an incentive to execute arbitrage trades.
For example, if UNL appears to be trading at a discount compared to the indicative fund value, a market professional could buy
UNL shares on the NYSE Arca and sell short futures contracts. Such arbitrage trades can tighten the tracking between the market
price of UNL and the indicative fund value and thus can be beneficial to all market participants.
UNL reserves
the right to adjust the share price of UNL in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments
would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits. Such splits would decrease (in the case of a split) or increase
(in the case of a reverse split) the proportionate NAV per share, but would have no effect on the net assets of UNL or the proportionate
voting rights of shareholders or limited partners.
Creation and Redemption
of Shares
UNL creates
and redeems shares from time to time, but only in one or more Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets. The creation and redemption
of baskets are only made in exchange for delivery to UNL or the distribution by UNL of the amount of Treasuries and any cash represented
by the baskets being created or redeemed, the amount of which is based on the combined NAV of the number of shares included in
the baskets being created or redeemed determined as of 4:00 p.m. New York time on the day the order to create or redeem baskets
is properly received.
Authorized
Participants are the only persons that may place orders to create and redeem baskets. Authorized Participants must be (1) registered
broker-dealers or other securities market participants, such as banks and other financial institutions, that are not required
to register as broker-dealers to engage in securities transactions as described below, and (2) DTC Participants. To become an
Authorized Participant, a person must enter into an Authorized Participant Agreement with USCF on behalf of UNL (each such agreement,
an “Authorized Participant Agreement”). The Authorized Participant Agreement provides the procedures for the creation
and redemption of baskets and for the delivery of the Treasuries and any cash required for such creations and redemptions. The
Authorized Participant Agreement and the related procedures attached thereto may be amended by USCF, without the consent of any
limited partner or shareholder or Authorized Participant. Authorized Participants pay a transaction fee of $350 to UNL for each
order they place to create one or more Creation Baskets or to redeem one or more Redemption Baskets. The transaction fee may be
reduced, increased, or otherwise changed by USCF. Authorized Participants who make deposits with UNL in exchange for baskets receive
no fees, commissions or other form of compensation or inducement of any kind from either UNL or USCF, and no such person will
have any obligation or responsibility to USCF or UNL to effect any sale or resale of shares.
Certain
Authorized Participants are expected to be capable of participating directly in the physical natural gas market and the natural
gas futures market. In some cases, Authorized Participants or their affiliates may from time to time buy or sell natural gas or
Natural Gas Interests and may profit in these instances. USCF believes that the size and operation of the natural gas market make
it unlikely that an Authorized Participant’s direct activities in the natural gas or securities markets will significantly
affect the price of natural gas, Natural Gas Interests, or the price of the shares.
Each
Authorized Participant is required to be registered as a broker-dealer under the 1934 Act and is a member in good standing with
FINRA, or exempt from being or otherwise not required to be registered as a broker-dealer or a member of FINRA, and qualified
to act as a broker or dealer in the states or other jurisdictions where the nature of its business so requires. Certain Authorized
Participants may also be regulated under federal and state banking laws and regulations. Each Authorized Participant has its own
set of rules and procedures, internal controls and information barriers as it determines is appropriate in light of its own regulatory
regime.
Under
the Authorized Participant Agreement, USCF, and UNL under limited circumstances, have agreed to indemnify the Authorized Participants
against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the 1933 Act, and to contribute to the payments the Authorized Participants
may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.
The following
description of the procedures for the creation and redemption of baskets is only a summary and an investor should refer to the
relevant provisions of the LP Agreement and the form of Authorized Participant Agreement for more detail, each of which is incorporated
by reference into this prospectus.
Creation Procedures
On any
business day, an Authorized Participant may place an order with the Marketing Agent to create one or more baskets. For purposes
of processing purchase and redemption orders, a “business day” means any day other than a day when any of the NYSE
Arca, the NYMEX or the NYSE is closed for regular trading. Purchase orders must be placed by 12:00 p.m. New York time or the close
of regular trading on the NYSE Arca, whichever is earlier. The day on which the Marketing Agent receives a valid purchase order
is referred to as the purchase order date.
By placing
a purchase order, an Authorized Participant agrees to deposit Treasuries, cash, or a combination of Treasuries and cash, as described
below. Prior to the delivery of baskets for a purchase order, the Authorized Participant must also have wired to the Custodian
the non-refundable transaction fee due for the purchase order. Authorized Participants may not withdraw a creation request, except
as otherwise set forth in the procedures in the Authorized Participant Agreement.
The manner
by which creations are made is dictated by the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement. By placing a purchase order, an
Authorized Participant agrees to (1) deposit Treasuries, cash, or a combination of Treasuries and cash with the Custodian, and
(2) if required by USCF in its sole discretion, enter into or arrange for a block trade, an exchange for physical or exchange
for swap, or any other OTC energy transaction (through itself or a designated acceptable broker) with UNL for the purchase of
a number and type of futures contracts at the closing settlement price for such contracts on the purchase order date. If an Authorized
Participant fails to consummate (1) and (2), the order shall be cancelled. The number and types of contracts specified shall be
determined by USCF, in its sole discretion, to meet UNL’s investment objective and shall be purchased as a result of the
Authorized Participant’s purchase of shares.
Determination of Required
Deposits
The total
deposit required to create each Creation Basket (“Creation Basket Deposit”) is the amount of Treasuries and/or cash
that is in the same proportion to the total assets of UNL (net of estimated accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and other liabilities)
on the purchase order date as the number of shares to be created under the purchase order is in proportion to the total number
of shares outstanding on the purchase order date. USCF determines, directly in its sole discretion or in consultation with the
Administrator, the requirements for Treasuries and the amount of cash, including the maximum permitted remaining maturity of a
Treasury and proportions of Treasury and cash that may be included in deposits to create baskets. The Marketing Agent will publish
such requirements at the beginning of each business day. The amount of cash deposit required is the difference between the aggregate
market value of the Treasuries required to be included in a Creation Basket Deposit as of 4:00 p.m. New York time on the date
the order to purchase is properly received and the total required deposit.
Delivery of Required
Deposits
An Authorized
Participant who places a purchase order is responsible for transferring to UNL’s account with the Custodian the required
amount of Treasuries and cash by the end of the second business day following the purchase order date. Upon receipt of the deposit
amount, the Administrator directs DTC to credit the number of baskets ordered to the Authorized Participant’s DTC account
on the second business day following the purchase order date. The expense and risk of delivery and ownership of Treasuries until
such Treasuries have been received by the Custodian on behalf of UNL shall be borne solely by the Authorized Participant.
Because
orders to purchase baskets must be placed by 12:00 p.m., New York time, but the total payment required to create a basket during
the continuous offering period will not be determined until after 4:00 p.m. New York time on the date the purchase order is received,
Authorized Participants will not know the total amount of the payment required to create a basket at the time they submit an irrevocable
purchase order for the basket. UNL’s per share NAV and the total amount of the payment required to create a basket could
rise or fall substantially between the time an irrevocable purchase order is submitted and the time the amount of the purchase
price in respect thereof is determined.
Rejection of Purchase
Orders
USCF
acting by itself or through the Marketing Agent shall have the absolute right but no obligation to reject a purchase order or
a Creation Basket Deposit if:
| · | it
determines that the investment alternative available to UNL at that time will not enable
it to meet its investment objective; |
| · | it
determines that the purchase order or the Creation Basket Deposit is not in proper form; |
| · | it
believes that the purchase order or the Creation Basket Deposit would have adverse tax
consequences to UNL, the limited partners or its shareholders; |
| · | the
acceptance or receipt of the Creation Basket Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel
to USCF, be unlawful; or |
| · | circumstances
outside the control of USCF, Marketing Agent or Custodian make it, for all practical
purposes, not feasible to process creations of baskets. |
None
of USCF, the Marketing Agent or the Custodian will be liable for the rejection of any purchase order or Creation Basket Deposit.
Redemption Procedures
The procedures
by which an Authorized Participant can redeem one or more baskets mirror the procedures for the creation of baskets. On any business
day, an Authorized Participant may place an order with the Marketing Agent to redeem one or more baskets. Redemption orders must
be placed by 12:00 p.m. New York time or the close of regular trading on the NYSE Arca, whichever is earlier. A redemption order
so received will be effective on the date it is received in satisfactory form by the Marketing Agent (“Redemption Order
Date”). The redemption procedures allow Authorized Participants to redeem baskets and do not entitle an individual shareholder
to redeem any shares in an amount less than a Redemption Basket, or to redeem baskets other than through an Authorized Participant.
By placing
a redemption order, an Authorized Participant agrees to deliver the baskets to be redeemed through DTC’s book-entry system
to UNL, as described below. Prior to the delivery of the redemption distribution for a redemption order, the Authorized Participant
must also have wired to UNL’s account at the Custodian the non-refundable transaction fee due for the redemption order.
An Authorized Participant may not withdraw a redemption order, except as otherwise set forth in the procedures in the Authorized
Participant Agreement.
The manner
by which redemptions are made is dictated by the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement. By placing a redemption order,
an Authorized Participant agrees to (1) deliver the Redemption Basket to be redeemed through DTC’s book-entry system to
UNL’s account with the Custodian not later than 3:00 p.m. New York time on the second business day following the Redemption
Order Date (“Redemption Distribution Date”), and (2) if required by USCF in its sole discretion, enter into or arrange
for a block trade, an exchange for physical or exchange for swap, or any other OTC energy transaction (through itself or a designated
acceptable broker) with UNL for the sale of a number and type of futures contracts at the closing settlement price for such contracts
on the Redemption Order Date. If an Authorized Participant fails to consummate (1) and (2) above, the order shall be cancelled.
The number and type of contracts specified shall be determined by USCF, in its sole discretion, to meet UNL’s investment
objective and shall be sold as a result of the Authorized Participant’s sale of shares.
Determination of Redemption
Distribution
The redemption
distribution from UNL consists of a transfer to the redeeming Authorized Participant of an amount of Treasuries and/or cash that
is in the same proportion to the total assets of UNL (net of estimated accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and other liabilities)
on the date the order to redeem is properly received as the number of shares to be redeemed under the redemption order is in proportion
to the total number of shares outstanding on the date the order is received. USCF, directly or in consultation with the Administrator,
determines the requirements for Treasuries and the amounts of cash, including the maximum permitted remaining maturity of a Treasury,
and the proportions of Treasuries and cash that may be included in distributions to redeem baskets. The Marketing Agent will publish
an estimate of the redemption distribution per basket as of the beginning of each business day.
Delivery of Redemption
Distribution
The redemption
distribution due from UNL will be delivered to the Authorized Participant by 3:00 p.m. New York time on the second business day
following the redemption order date if, by 3:00 p.m. New York time on such second business day, UNL’s DTC account has been
credited with the baskets to be redeemed. If UNL’s DTC account has not been credited with all of the baskets to be redeemed
by such time, the redemption distribution will be delivered to the extent of whole baskets received. Any remainder of the redemption
distribution will be delivered on the next business day to the extent of remaining whole baskets received if UNL receives the
fee applicable to the extension of the Redemption Distribution Date which USCF may, from time to time, determine and the remaining
baskets to be redeemed are credited to UNL’s DTC account by 3:00 p.m. New York time on such next business day. Any further
outstanding amount of the redemption order shall be cancelled. Pursuant to information from USCF, the Custodian will also be authorized
to deliver the redemption distribution notwithstanding that the baskets to be redeemed are not credited to UNL’s DTC account
by 3:00 p.m. New York time on the second business day following the redemption order date if the Authorized Participant has collateralized
its obligation to deliver the baskets through DTC’s book entry-system on such terms as USCF may from time to time determine.
Suspension or Rejection
of Redemption Orders
USCF
may, in its discretion, suspend the right of redemption, or postpone the redemption settlement date, (1) for any period during
which the NYSE Arca or the NYMEX is closed other than customary weekend or holiday closings, or trading on the NYSE Arca or the
NYMEX is suspended or restricted, (2) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which delivery, disposal
or evaluation of Treasuries is not reasonably practicable, or (3) for such other period as USCF determines to be necessary for
the protection of the limited partners or shareholders. For example, USCF may determine that it is necessary to suspend redemptions
to allow for the orderly liquidation of UNL’s assets at an appropriate value to fund a redemption. If USCF has difficulty
liquidating UNL’s positions, e.g., because of a market disruption event in the futures markets, a suspension of trading
by the exchange where the futures contracts are listed or an unanticipated delay in the liquidation of a position in an OTC contract,
it may be appropriate to suspend redemptions until such time as such circumstances are rectified. None of USCF, the Marketing
Agent, the Administrator, or the Custodian will be liable to any person or in any way for any loss or damages that may result
from any such suspension or postponement.
Redemption
orders must be made in whole baskets. USCF will reject a redemption order if the order is not in proper form as described in the
Authorized Participant Agreement or if the fulfillment of the order, in the opinion of its counsel, might be unlawful. USCF may
also reject a redemption order if the number of shares being redeemed would reduce the remaining outstanding shares to 100,000
shares (i.e., two baskets) or less.
Settlement Time
As of
the date of this prospectus, under Rule 15c6-1 under the 1934 Act, trades in the secondary market generally are required
to settle in two business days, unless the parties to such trade expressly agree otherwise. In February 2023, Rule 15c6-1
under the 1934 Act was amended to require, effective May 28, 2024, trades in the secondary market to settle in one business
day, unless the parties to such trade expressly agree otherwise or unless an exception applies. As a result, for creations or
redemptions of baskets occurring on or after May 28, 2024, the creation procedures and redemption procedures described in
this section is hereby revised as of such date to provide that delivery of Treasuries and/or cash, as well as shares of the fund,
will occur on the first business day following the purchase order date or redemption order date, as applicable.
Creation and Redemption
Transaction Fee
To compensate
UNL for its expenses in connection with the creation and redemption of baskets, an Authorized Participant is required to pay a
transaction fee to UNL of $350 per order to create or redeem baskets, regardless of the number of baskets in such order. An order
may include multiple baskets. The transaction fee may be reduced, increased or otherwise changed by USCF. USCF shall notify DTC
of any change in the transaction fee and will not implement any increase in the fee for the redemption of baskets until thirty
(30) days after the date of the notice.
Tax Responsibility
Authorized
Participants are responsible for any transfer tax, sales or use tax, stamp tax, recording tax, value added tax or similar tax
or governmental charge applicable to the creation or redemption of baskets, regardless of whether or not such tax or charge is
imposed directly on the Authorized Participant, and agree to indemnify USCF and UNL if they are required by law to pay any such
tax, together with any applicable penalties, additions to tax and interest thereon.
Secondary Market Transactions
As noted,
UNL creates and redeems shares from time to time, but only in one or more Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets. The creation
and redemption of baskets are only made in exchange for delivery to UNL or the distribution by UNL of the amount of Treasuries
and cash represented by the baskets being created or redeemed, the amount of which will be based on the aggregate NAV of the number
of shares included in the baskets being created or redeemed determined on the day the order to create or redeem baskets is properly
received.
As discussed
above, Authorized Participants are the only persons that may place orders to create and redeem baskets. Authorized Participants
must be registered broker-dealers or other securities market participants, such as banks and other financial institutions that
are not required to register as broker-dealers to engage in securities transactions. An Authorized Participant is under no obligation
to create or redeem baskets, and an Authorized Participant is under no obligation to offer to the public shares of any baskets
it does create. Authorized Participants that do offer to the public shares from the baskets they create will do so at per-share
offering prices that are expected to reflect, among other factors, the trading price of the shares on the NYSE Arca, the per share
NAV of UNL at the time the Authorized Participant purchased the Creation Baskets and the per share NAV at the time of the offer
of the shares to the public, the supply of and demand for shares at the time of sale, and the liquidity of the Futures Contracts
market and the market for Other Natural Gas-Related Investments.
Shares
initially comprising the same basket but offered by Authorized Participants to the public at different times may have different
offering prices. An order for one or more baskets may be placed by an Authorized Participant on behalf of multiple clients. Authorized
Participants who make deposits with UNL in exchange for baskets receive no fees, commissions or other forms of compensation or
inducement of any kind from either UNL or USCF, and no such person has any obligation or responsibility to USCF or UNL to effect
any sale or resale of shares. Shares trade in the secondary market on the NYSE Arca. Shares may trade in the secondary market
at prices that are lower or higher relative to their NAV per share.
The amount
of the discount or premium in the trading price relative to the per share NAV may be influenced by various factors, including,
among other things, the number of investors who seek to purchase or sell shares in the secondary market, availability of Creation
Baskets, the liquidity of the Futures Contracts market and the market for Other Natural Gas-Related Investments. In addition,
while UNL’s shares trade during the core trading session on the NYSE Arca until 4:00 p.m. New York time, liquidity in the
market for Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments may be reduced after the close of the NYMEX at 2:30 p.m.
New York time. UNL’s NAV is calculated based on the settlement price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts at 2:30 p.m. New
York time and the closing share price of UNL on the NYSE Arca takes into account changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures
Contracts that occur after the settlement price is determined. As a result, during this time, particularly if UNL has invested
in Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments traded on the NYMEX, trading spreads, and the resulting premium
or discount, on the shares may widen.
Use of Proceeds
USCF
causes UNL to transfer the proceeds from the sale of Creation Baskets to the Custodian or other custodian for trading activities.
USCF will invest UNL’s assets in Natural Gas Interests and investments in Treasuries, cash and/or cash equivalents. When
UNL purchases Futures Contracts and certain exchange-traded Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, UNL is required to deposit
typically 5% to 30% with the selling FCMs on behalf of the exchange as a portion of the value of the contract or other interest
as security to ensure payment for the obligation under Natural Gas Interests at maturity. This deposit is known as initial margin.
Counterparties in transactions in OTC contracts will generally impose similar collateral requirements on UNL. USCF will invest
the assets that remain after margin and collateral are posted in Treasuries, cash and/or cash equivalents subject to these margin
and collateral requirements. USCF has sole authority to determine the percentage of assets that are:
| · | held
as margin or collateral with the FCMs or other custodians, |
| · | used
for other investments, and |
| · | held
in bank accounts to pay current obligations and as reserves. |
An FCM,
a counterparty, a government agency, or a commodity exchange could increase margin or collateral requirements applicable to UNL
to hold trading positions at any time. The percentage of assets committed as margin may be substantially more, or less, than the
5% to 30% range described above. Ongoing margin and collateral payments will generally be required for both exchange-traded and
OTC contracts based on changes in the value of the Natural Gas Interests. Furthermore, ongoing collateral requirements with respect
to OTC contracts are negotiated by the parties, and may be affected by overall market volatility, volatility of the underlying
commodity or index, the ability of the counterparty to hedge its exposure under the Natural Gas Interests, and each party’s
creditworthiness. Margin is merely a security deposit and has no bearing on the profit or loss potential for any positions held.
In light of the differing requirements for initial payments under exchange-traded and OTC contracts and the fluctuating nature
of ongoing margin and collateral payments, it is not possible to estimate what portion of UNL’s assets will be posted as
margin or collateral at any given time. The Treasuries, cash and cash equivalents held by UNL will constitute reserves that will
be available to meet ongoing margin and collateral requirements. All interest income will be used for UNL’s benefit.
The assets
of UNL posted as margin for Futures Contracts are held in segregated accounts pursuant to the CEA and CFTC regulations.
If UNL
enters into a swap agreement, UNL must post both collateral and independent amounts to its swap counterparty(ies). The amount
of collateral UNL posts changes according to the amounts owed by UNL to its counterparty on a given swap transaction, while independent
amounts are fixed amounts posted by UNL at the start of a swap transaction. Collateral and independent amounts posted to swap
counterparties will be held by a third-party custodian.
INFORMATION
YOU SHOULD KNOW
This
prospectus contains information you should consider when making an investment decision about the shares. You may rely only on
the information contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement. Neither UNL nor USCF has authorized any
person to provide you with different information and, if anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should
not rely on it. This prospectus is not an offer to sell the shares in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale of the shares is
not permitted.
The information
contained in this prospectus was obtained from us and other sources believed by us to be reliable.
You should
rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement or any information incorporated
by reference to this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with any information that is different. If you receive
any unauthorized information, you must not rely on it. You should disregard anything we said in an earlier document that is inconsistent
with what is included in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement or any information incorporated by reference
to this prospectus. Where the context requires, when we refer to this “prospectus,” we are referring to this prospectus
and (if applicable) the relevant prospectus supplement.
You should
not assume that the information in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement is current as of any date other than
the date on the front page of this prospectus or the date on the front page of any applicable prospectus supplement.
We include
cross references in this prospectus to captions in these materials where you can find further related discussions. The table of
contents tells you where to find these captions.
SUMMARY
OF PROMOTIONAL AND SALES MATERIAL
UNL uses
the following promotional or sales material:
| · | UNL’s
website, www.uscfinvestments.com; and |
| · | UNL
fact sheet found on UNL’s website. |
The materials
described above are not a part of this prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and have been
submitted to the staff of the SEC for their review pursuant to Industry Guide 5.
This section
is provided here as a convenience to you.
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
USCF owns
trademark registrations for the UNITED STATES 12 MONTH NATURAL GAS FUND (U.S. Reg. No. 3783071) for “Financial investment
services in the field of natural gas futures contracts, cash-settled options on natural gas futures contracts, forward contracts
for natural gas, over-the-counter transactions based on the price of natural gas, and indices based on the foregoing,” in
use since November 18, 2009, and UNL UNITED STATES 12 MONTH NATURAL GAS FUND, LP (and 12 and Flame Design) (U.S. Reg. No. 4440925)
for “financial investment services in the field of natural gas futures contracts, cash-settled options on natural gas futures
contracts, forward contracts for natural gas, over-the-counter transactions based on the price of natural gas, and indices based
on the foregoing,” in use since September 30, 2012. USCF relies upon these trademarks through which it markets its
services and strives to build and maintain brand recognition in the market and among current and potential investors. So long
as USCF continues to use these trademarks to identify its services, without challenge from any third party, and properly maintains
and renews the trademark registrations under applicable laws, rules and regulations, it will continue to have indefinite
protection for these trademarks under current laws, rules and regulations.
USCF owns
trademark registrations for USCF (and Design) (U.S. Reg. No. 5127374) for “fund investment services,” in use
since April 10, 2016, USCF (U.S. Reg. No. 5040755) for “fund investment services,” in use since June 24,
2008, and INVEST IN WHAT’S REAL (U.S. Reg. No. 5450808) for “fund investment services,” in use since April 2016.
USCF relies upon these trademarks and service mark through which it markets its services and strives to build and maintain brand
recognition in the market and among current and potential investors. So long as USCF continues to use these trademarks to identify
its services, without challenge from any third party, and properly maintains and renews the trademark registrations under applicable
laws, rules and regulations; it will continue to have indefinite protection for these trademarks under current laws, rules and
regulations. USCF has been granted two patents Nos. 7,739,186 and 8,019,675, for systems and methods for an exchange traded fund
(ETF) that tracks the price of one or more commodities.
WHERE
YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
USCF
has filed on behalf of UNL a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC under the 1933 Act. This prospectus does not contain
all of the information set forth in the registration statement (including the exhibits to the registration statement), parts of
which have been omitted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC. For further information about UNL or the shares,
please refer to the registration statement, which you may access online at www.sec.gov. Information about UNL and the shares
can also be obtained from UNL’s website, http://www.uscfinvestments.com. UNL’s website address is only provided
here as a convenience to you and the information contained on or connected to the website is not part of this prospectus or the
registration statement of which this prospectus is part. UNL is subject to the informational requirements of the 1934 Act and
USCF, on behalf of UNL, will file certain reports and other information with the SEC under the 1934 Act. USCF will file an updated
prospectus annually for UNL pursuant to the 1933 Act. The reports and other information can be accessed online at www.sec.gov.
STATEMENT
REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This
prospectus includes “forward-looking statements” which generally relate to future events or future performance. In
some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,”
“expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,”
“potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements (other than statements
of historical fact) included in this prospectus that address activities, events or developments that will or may occur in the
future, including such matters as changes in inflation in the United States, movements in the stock market, movements in U.S.
and foreign currencies, and market volatility in the commodities markets and futures markets and indexes that track such movements,
the Russia-Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East, UNL’s operations, USCF’s plans and references to UNL’s
future success and other similar matters, are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions. Actual events
or results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses USCF has made based on its
perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors appropriate in
the circumstances. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to USCF’s expectations and predictions, however,
is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the special considerations discussed in this prospectus, general
economic, market and business conditions, changes in laws or regulations, including those concerning taxes, made by governmental
authorities or regulatory bodies, and other world economic and political developments. See “Risk Factors Involved with an
Investment in UNL” Consequently, all the forward-looking statements made in this prospectus are qualified by these cautionary
statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments USCF anticipates will be realized or, even if
substantially realized, that they will result in the expected consequences to, or have the expected effects on, UNL’s operations
or the value of its shares.
INCORPORATION
BY REFERENCE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION
We are
a reporting company and file annual, quarterly and current reports and other information with the SEC. The rules of the SEC allow
us to “incorporate by reference” information that we file with them, which means that we can disclose important information
to you by referring you to those documents. The information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus.
Any reports filed by us with the SEC subsequent to the date of this prospectus and before the date that any offering of any securities
by means of this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement is terminated will automatically update, and where applicable,
supersede any information contained in this prospectus or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We incorporate by reference
the documents listed below and any future filings we will make with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the 1934
Act after the date of this prospectus until all of the securities offered by this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement
have been sold or we otherwise terminate the offering of these securities; provided, however, that information “furnished”
under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K, or other information “furnished” to the SEC which is not deemed filed is
not and will not be incorporated by reference. This prospectus incorporates by reference the documents set forth below that have
been previously filed with the SEC:
| · | Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on
March 4, 2025. |
We will
provide to each person to whom a prospectus is delivered, including any beneficial owner, a copy of these filings at no cost,
upon written or oral request at the following address or telephone number:
United
States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP
Attention: Katie Rooney
1850 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, Suite 640
Walnut Creek, California 94596
(510) 522-9600
Our website
is www.uscfinvestments.com. We make our electronic filings with the SEC, including our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports available on our website free of charge as soon
as practicable after we file or furnish them with the SEC. The information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference
in this prospectus and should not be considered a part of this prospectus.
Privacy Policy
UNL and
USCF may collect or have access to certain nonpublic personal information about current and former investors. Nonpublic personal
information may include information received from investors, such as an investor’s name, social security number and address,
as well as information received from brokerage firms about investor holdings and transactions in shares of UNL.
UNL and
USCF do not disclose nonpublic personal information except as required by law or as described in their Privacy Policy. In general,
UNL and USCF restrict access to the nonpublic personal information they collect about investors to those of their and their affiliates’
employees and service providers who need access to such information to provide products and services to investors.
UNL and
USCF maintain safeguards that comply with federal and applicable state law to protect investors’ nonpublic personal information.
These safeguards are reasonably designed to (1) ensure the security and confidentiality of investors’ records and information,
(2) protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of investors’ records and information,
and (3) protect against unauthorized access to or use of investors’ records or information that could result in substantial
harm or inconvenience to any investor. Third-party service providers with whom UNL and USCF share nonpublic personal information
about investors must agree to follow appropriate standards of security and confidentiality, which includes safeguarding such nonpublic
personal information physically, electronically and procedurally.
A copy
of USCF’s current Privacy Policy is available at http://www.uscfinvestments.com.
APPENDIX
A
Glossary
of Defined Terms
In this
prospectus, each of the following terms has the meaning set forth after such term:
1933
Act: The Securities Act of 1933.
1934
Act: The Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
1940
Act: Investment Company Act of 1940.
Adjusted
K-1: A statement to investors who owned beneficial interests in the shares in the year to which the adjusted allocations relate
setting forth their proportionate shares of the adjustment.
Administrator:
BNY Mellon.
Authorized
Participant: A person that purchases or redeems Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets, respectively, from or to UNL.
Authorized
Participant Agreement: An agreement with USCF on behalf of UNL whereby a person becomes an Authorized Participant.
Backup
Withholding: U.S. federal income tax that is required to be withheld.
Basket:
A block of 50,000 shares.
Benchmark
Futures Contracts: The near month contract to expire and the contracts for the following eleven months for a total of 12 consecutive
months’ contracts on natural gas traded on the NYMEX, unless the near month contract is within two weeks of expiration,
in which case the Benchmark Futures Contracts is the next month contract to expire and the contracts for the following eleven
consecutive months.
BNO:
United States Brent Oil Fund, LP.
BNY
Mellon: The Bank of New York Mellon.
Board:
USCF’s board of directors.
Business
Day: Any day other than a day when any of the NYSE Arca, the NYMEX or the New York Stock Exchange is closed for regular trading.
CEA:
Commodity Exchange Act.
CFTC:
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and options in
the United States.
Cleared
Swap Contract: A financial contract, whose value is designed to track the return on stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities,
or some other benchmark, that is submitted to a central clearinghouse after it is either traded OTC or on an exchange or other
trading platform.
Code:
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Commodity
Pool: An enterprise in which several individuals contribute funds in order to trade futures contracts or options on futures
contracts collectively.
Commodity
Pool Operator or CPO: Any person engaged in a business which is of the nature of an investment trust, syndicate, or similar
enterprise, and who, in connection therewith, solicits, accepts, or receives from others, funds, securities, or property, either
directly or through capital contributions, the sale of stock or other forms of securities, or otherwise, for the purpose of trading
in any commodity for future delivery or commodity option on or subject to the rules of any contract market.
CPER:
United States Copper Index Fund.
Creation
Basket: A block of 50,000 shares used by UNL to issue shares.
Creation
Basket Deposit: The total deposit required to create each basket.
Custodian:
The Bank of New York Mellon.
DCM:
Designated contract market.
DNO:
United States Short Oil Fund, LP.
DTC:
The Depository Trust Company. DTC will act as the securities depository for the shares.
DTC
Participant: An entity that has an account with DTC.
DTEF:
A derivatives transaction execution facility.
ECI:
Income that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.
ERISA:
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
Exchange
for Related Position (EFRP): An off market transaction which involves the swapping (or exchanging) of an over-the-counter
(OTC) position for a futures position. The OTC transaction must be for the same or similar quantity or amount of a specified commodity,
or a substantially similar commodity or instrument. The OTC side of the EFRP can include swaps, swap options, or other instruments
traded in the OTC market. In order that an EFRP transaction can take place, the OTC side and futures components must be “substantially
similar” in terms of either value and or quantity. The net result is that the OTC position (and the inherent counterparty
credit exposure) is transferred from the OTC market to the futures market. EFRPs can also work in reverse, where a futures position
can be reversed and transferred to the OTC market.
FCM:
Futures Commission Merchant.
FDAP:
Amounts that are fixed, determinable, annual and periodic income, such as interest, dividends and rent that are not connected
with the operation of a U.S. trade or business.
FFI:
Foreign financial institution.
FINRA:
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Futures
Contracts: Futures contracts for natural gas that are traded on NYMEX, ICE Futures or other U.S. and foreign exchanges.
ICE
Futures Exchange (ICE Futures): The leading electronic regulated futures and options exchange for global energy markets. UNL
expects to invest primarily in futures contracts, and particularly in futures contracts traded on ICE Futures.
IGA:
Intergovernmental agreement.
Indirect
Participants: Banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC
Participant, either directly or indirectly.
IRA:
Individual retirement account.
IRS:
U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
ISDA:
International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc.
Limited
Liability Company (LLC): A type of business ownership combining several features of corporation and partnership structures.
LLC
Agreement: The Sixth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of USCF, dated as of May 15, 2015 (as amended
from time to time).
LP
Agreement: The Third Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership dated as of December 15, 2017.
Management
Directors: The four management directors that make up USCF’s board of directors.
Margin:
The amount of equity required for an investment in futures contracts.
Marketing
Agent: ALPS Distributors, Inc.
Marygold:
The Marygold Companies, Inc., formerly Concierge Technologies Inc., a company publicly traded under the ticker symbol “MGLD.”
MMBTU:
10,000 million British thermal shares.
Natural
Gas Interests: Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments.
NAV:
Net asset value of UNL.
New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX): The primary exchange on which futures contracts are traded in the U.S. UNL expects to invest
primarily in futures contracts, and particularly in futures contracts traded on the NYMEX. UNL expressly disclaims any association
with NYMEX or endorsement of UNL by NYMEX and acknowledges that “NYMEX” and “New York Mercantile Exchange”
are registered trademarks of the NYMEX.
NFA:
National Futures Association.
NYSE
Arca: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Option:
The right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a futures contract or forward contract at a specified price on or before
a specified date.
OTC
Derivative: A financial contract, whose value is designed to track the return on stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, or
some other benchmark, that is traded OTC or off organized exchanges.
Other
Natural Gas-Related Investments: Natural Gas-Related Investments other than Futures Contracts such as cash-settled options
on Futures Contracts, forward contracts for natural gas, and OTC transactions that are based on the price of natural gas, crude
oil, and other petroleum-based fuels, as well as Futures Contracts and indices based on the foregoing.
Position
Limits Rule: Regulatory limits imposed by the CFTC on speculative positions in certain physical commodity futures and option
contracts and swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts in the agriculture, energy and metals markets and rules
addressing the circumstances under which market participants would be required to aggregate their positions with other persons
under common ownership or control.
Prudential
Regulators: The CFTC, the SEC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, collectively.
Redemption
Basket: A block of 50,000 shares used by UNL to redeem shares.
Redemption
Order Date: The date a redemption order is received in satisfactory form and approved by the Marketing Agent.
Register:
The record of all Shareholders and holders of the shares in certificated form kept by the Administrator.
Related
Public Funds: United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (“BNO”); United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP (“USL”);
United States Oil Fund, LP (“USO”); United States Gasoline Fund, LP (“UGA”); United States Natural Gas
Fund, LP (“UNG”); United States Copper Index Fund (“CPER”); United States Commodity Index Fund (“USCI”).
SEC:
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Secondary
Market: The stock exchanges and the OTC market. Securities are first issued as a primary offering to the public. When the
securities are traded from that first holder to another, the issues trade in these secondary markets.
SEF: A
swap execution facility.
Shareholders:
Holders of shares.
Shares:
Common shares representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in UNL.
Spot
Contract: A cash market transaction in which the buyer and seller agree to the immediate purchase and sale of a commodity,
usually with a two-day settlement.
Swap
Contract: Swap transactions generally involve contracts between two parties to exchange a stream of payments computed by reference
to a notional amount and the price of the asset that is the subject of the swap. Some swap transactions are cleared through central
counterparties. These transactions, known as cleared swaps, involve two counterparties first agreeing to the terms of a swap transaction,
then submitting the transaction to a clearing house that acts as the central counterparty. Swap transactions that are not cleared
through central counterparties are called “uncleared” or “over-the-counter” (“OTC”) swaps.
Tracking
Error: Possibility that the daily NAV of UNL will not track the price of natural gas.
Treasuries:
Obligations of the U.S. government with remaining maturities of 2 years or less.
UBTI:
Unrelated business taxable income.
UGA:
United States Gasoline Fund, LP.
UHN:
United States Diesel-Heating Oil Fund, LP.
UNG:
United States Natural Gas Fund, LP.
UNL:
United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund, LP.
USCF:
United States Commodity Funds LLC (the general partner), a Delaware limited liability company, which is registered as a Commodity
Pool Operator, who controls the investments and other decisions of UNL.
USCF
Investments: USCF Investments, Inc., formerly Wainwright Holdings, Inc.
USCI:
United States Commodity Index Fund.
USL:
United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP.
USO:
United States Oil Fund, LP.
Valuation
Day: Any day as of which UNL calculates its NAV.
You:
The owner or holder of shares.
United States 12 Month N... (AMEX:UNL)
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