On August 18, 2020, pursuant
to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4, motions were filed seeking to consolidate
(i) a purported stockholder class action initiated on June 19, 2020 by Robert Lucas, individually and on behalf of others similarly
situated, that is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-04740
and in which the United States Commodity Funds LLC (“USCF”), United States Oil Fund, LP (“USO”), John P.
Love, and Stuart P. Crumbaugh were named as defendants (the “Lucas Class Action”), (ii) a purported stockholder class
action initiated on July 31, 2020 by Moshe Ephrati, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, that is currently
pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06010 and in which the same
defendants named in the Lucas Class Action were also named as defendants (the “Ephrati Class Action”), and (iii) a
purported stockholder class action initiated on August 13, 2020 by Danny Palacios, individually and on behalf of others similarly
situated, that is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06442
and also named the same defendants as in the Lucas Class Action and the Ephrati Class Action (the “Palacios Class Action”
and, together with the Lucas Class Action and the Ephrati Class Action, the “Class Actions”). The Lucas Class Action
was disclosed in USO’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on June 23, 2020
and the Ephrati Class Action was disclosed in USO’s Prospectus Supplement dated August 6, 2020 (File No. 333-237750) filed
with the SEC on August 6, 2020.
The claims made in each
of the Class Actions are nearly identical. In each case, it is alleged that, in connection with USO’s registration and issuance
of additional shares, beginning in March 2020, USCF, USO and the other named 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, and that USCF, USO and the other named defendants possessed
inside knowledge about the consequences of these converging adverse events on USO and did not sufficiently acknowledge them until
late April and May 2020, after USO suffered losses and was allegedly forced to abandon its investment strategy. Although the aforementioned
claims are substantively identical, the putative class period in the Ephrati Class Action and the Lucas Class Action begins on
March 19, 2020, whereas the putative class period in the Palacios Class Action begins on February 25, 2020. Each of the complaints
in the Class Actions seeks to certify a class and award the class compensatory damages at an amount to be determined at trial.
The Class Actions have been designated as related and assigned to the same Judge. The movants in the above-referenced August 18,
2020 motions seek to have the Class Actions consolidated into a single case and to serve as lead plaintiff on behalf of the entire
putative class.
USCF, USO and the other
defendants in the Class Actions intend to vigorously contest the claims made therein and move for their dismissal.
On
August 27, 2020, USCF was named as a defendant in two actions filed by purported shareholders Michael Cantrell (the “Cantrell
Complaint”) and AML Pharm. Inc. DBA Golden International (the “AML Complaint”). Both the Cantrell Complaint and
the AML Complaint are asserted derivatively on behalf of USO, against defendants USCF, John P. Love and Stuart P. Crumbaugh, as
well as USO directors Andrew F Ngim, Gordon L. Ellis, Malcolm R. Fobes III, Nicholas D. Gerber, Robert L. Nguyen, and Peter M.
Robinson, as well as USO as a nominal defendant. The Cantrell Complaint is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York as Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06974. The AML Complaint is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York as Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-06981.
The
Cantrell Complaint and AML Complaint are nearly identical. They allege violations of Sections 10(b), 20(a) and 21D of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), SEC 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 performance, and defendants’ actions in respect thereof, 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 complainants seek, on behalf of USO, compensatory damages at an amount to be determined at trial, restitution,
equitable relief, attorney’s fees and costs. The plaintiffs in the Cantrell Complaint and AML Complaint have marked their
actions as related to the Lucas Class Action.
USCF,
USO and the other defendants in the Cantrell Complaint and AML Complaint intend to vigorously contest such claims and move for
their dismissal.