NYSE: UNL

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 price 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 price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period.

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, liquidity requirements (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s future 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 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 annual report on Form 10-K.

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.

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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 during the past year 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.)

Who is USCF?

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, Inc., formerly Wainwright Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“USCF Investments”), which is an intermediate holding company that owns USCF and another advisor of exchange traded funds. USCF Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Marygold Companies, Inc., formerly, Concierge Technologies, Inc. (publicly traded under the ticker: MGLD) (“Marygold”), 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 Dividend Income Fund (“UDI”), USCF Gold Strategy Plus Income Fund (“USG”), USCF Sustainable Battery Metals Strategy Fund (“ZSB”), USCF Energy Commodity Strategy Absolute Return Fund (“USE”), USCF Sustainable Commodity Strategy Fund (“ZSC”) and the USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund (“WTIB”), each a series of the USCF ETF Trust. USCF ETF Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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 National Futures Association (the “NFA”) and registered as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (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”) and the United States Gasoline Fund, LP (“UGA”), which listed their limited partnership shares on the American Stock Exchange (the “AMEX”) under the ticker symbols “USO” on April 10, 2006, “UNG” on April 18, 2007, “USL” on December 6, 2007 and “UGA” on February 26, 2008, respectively. As a result of the acquisition of the AMEX by NYSE Euronext, each of USO’s, UNG’s, USL’s and UGA’s shares commenced trading on the NYSE Arca on November 25, 2008. USCF is also the general partner of the United States Brent Oil Fund, LP (“BNO”), which listed its limited partnership shares on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “BNO” on June 2, 2010.

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”). USCI and CPER listed their shares on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbols “USCI” on August 10, 2010 and “CPER” on November 15, 2011, respectively.

USO, UNG, UGA, USL, BNO, 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 “Exchange 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 website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) at www.sec.gov.

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USCF is required to evaluate the credit risk of UNL to the futures commission merchants (“FCMs”), oversee the purchase and sale of UNL’s shares by certain authorized purchasers (“Authorized Participants”), review daily positions and margin requirements of UNL and manage UNL’s investments. USCF also pays the fees of ALPS Distributors, Inc. (“ALPS Distributors”), 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.

The limited partners take no part in the management or control of, and have a minimal voice in UNL’s operations or business. Limited partners have no right to elect USCF as the general partner on an annual or any other continuing basis. If USCF voluntarily withdraws as general partner, however, the holders of a majority of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding for purposes of such determination shares owned, if any, by the withdrawing USCF 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 and 2/3 percent of UNL’s outstanding shares (excluding shares owned, if any, 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 a board of directors (the “Board”), which is comprised of four management directors (the “Management Directors”), each of whom are also executive officers or 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 Sixth Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of USCF, dated as of May 15, 2015 (as amended from time to time, 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). For additional information relating to the audit committee, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance – Audit Committee” in this annual report on Form 10-K.

UNL has no executive officers or employees. Pursuant to the terms of the LP Agreement, UNL’s affairs are managed by USCF.

How Does UNL Operate?

An investment in UNL shares provides a means for diversifying an investor’s portfolio or hedging exposure to changes in natural gas prices. An investment in the shares allows both retail and institutional investors to easily gain this exposure to the natural gas market in a transparent, cost-effective manner.

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, liquidity requirements (including those that may be taken by UNL, UNL’s FCMs, counterparties or other market participants), 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. For convenience and unless otherwise specified, Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments collectively are referred to as “Natural Gas Interests” in this annual report on Form 10-K. 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.

UNL may invest in interests other than the Benchmark Futures Contracts to comply with accountability levels and position limits. For a detailed discussion of accountability levels and position limits, see “Item 1. Business – What are Futures Contracts?” below in this annual report on Form 10-K.

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UNL seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a mix of Futures Contracts and Other-Natural-Gas Related Investments such that the changes in its NAV will closely track the changes in the price of the NYMEX Futures Contracts for natural gas delivered to Henry Hub Louisiana. USCF believes changes in the price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts have historically exhibited a close correlation with the changes in the spot price of natural gas. On any valuation day (a valuation day is any NYSE Arca trading day as of which UNL calculates its NAV as described herein), the Benchmark Futures Contracts are the near month contract to expire for natural gas traded on the NYMEX, 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 for natural gas on the NYMEX 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.

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.

USCF employs a “neutral” investment strategy in order to track changes in the average of the prices of the Benchmark Futures Contracts regardless of whether the price goes up or goes 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 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.

The Benchmark Futures Contracts are changed from the near month contract to expire and the 11 following months to the next month contract to expire and the 11 following months during one day each month. On that day, USCF anticipates it will “roll” UNL’s positions by closing, or selling, its natural gas interests and reinvests the proceeds from closing these positions in new natural gas interests.

The anticipated monthly dates on which UNL will “roll” its positions are posted on UNL’s website at www.uscfinvestments.com, and are subject to change without notice.

UNL’s total portfolio composition is disclosed on its website each business day that the NYSE Arca is open for trading. The website disclosure of portfolio holdings is made daily and includes, as applicable, the name and value of each Natural Gas Interest, the specific types of Natural Gas Interests and characteristics of such Other Natural Gas Interests, the name and value of each Treasury and cash equivalent, and the amount of cash held in UNL’s portfolio. UNL’s website is publicly accessible at no charge. UNL’s assets used for margin and collateral are held in segregated accounts pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) and CFTC regulations.

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The shares issued by UNL may only be purchased by Authorized Participants and only in blocks of 50,000 shares, called “Creation Baskets”. The amount of the purchase payment for a Creation Basket is equal to the aggregate NAV of shares in the Creation Basket. Similarly, only Authorized Participants may redeem shares and only in blocks of 50,000 shares, called “Redemption Baskets”. The amount of the redemption proceeds for a Redemption Basket is equal to the aggregate NAV of the shares in the Redemption Basket. The purchase price for Creation Baskets, and the redemption price for Redemption Baskets are the actual NAV calculated at the end of the business day when a request for a purchase or redemption is received by UNL. The NYSE Arca publishes an approximate per share NAV intra-day based on the prior day’s per share NAV and the current price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts, but the price of Creation Baskets and Redemption Baskets is determined based on the actual per share NAV calculated at the end of the day.

While UNL issues shares only in Creation Baskets, shares are listed on the NYSE Arca and investors may purchase and sell shares at market prices like any listed security.

What is UNL’s Investment Strategy?

In managing UNL’s assets, USCF does not use a technical trading system that issues buy and sell orders. USCF instead employs a quantitative methodology whereby each time a Creation Basket is sold, USCF purchases Futures Contracts and Other Natural Gas-Related Investments, 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 intends to continue to pursue its investment objective as described above. 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 of UNL’s 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 as 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 on a daily basis, the daily changes in the spot price of natural gas, on a percentage basis. For performance data relating to UNL’s ability to track its benchmark, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Tracking UNL’s Benchmark” in this annual report on Form 10-K.

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, 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 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 changes in the spot price of a barrel of natural gas on a percentage basis, plus interest earned on UNL’s collateral holdings, 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 price 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 price of the Benchmark Futures Contracts over the same period. For performance data relating to UNL’s ability to track its benchmark, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Tracking UNL’s Benchmark” in this annual report on Form 10-K.

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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. While USCF has made significant investments in NYMEX Futures Contracts, 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, it may invest in Futures Contracts traded on other exchanges or invest in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments. 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 would 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, but are not limited to, those allowing UNL to obtain greater liquidity or to execute transactions with more favorable pricing. See “Item 1. Business – Commodities Regulation” in this annual report on Form 10-K for a discussion of the potential impact of regulation on UNL’s ability to invest in OTC transactions and cleared swaps.

What is the Natural Gas Market and the Petroleum-Based Fuel Market?

Natural Gas. Natural gas accounts for almost a quarter of U.S. energy consumption. The price of natural gas is established by the supply and demand conditions in the North American market, and more particularly, in the main refining center of the U.S. Gulf Coast. The natural gas market essentially constitutes an auction, where the highest bidder wins the supply. When markets are “strong” (i.e., when demand is high and/or supply is low), the bidder must be willing to pay a higher premium to capture the supply. When markets are “weak” (i.e., when demand is low and/or supply is high), a bidder may choose not to outbid competitors, waiting instead for later, possibly lower priced, supplies. Demand for natural gas by consumers, as well as agricultural, manufacturing and transportation industries, determines overall demand for natural gas. Since the precursors of product demand are linked to economic activity, natural gas demand will tend to reflect economic conditions. However, other factors such as weather significantly influence natural gas demand.

The NYMEX is the world’s largest physical commodity futures exchange and the dominant market for the trading of energy and precious metals. The Benchmark Futures Contracts trade in units of 10,000 million British thermal units (“MMBtu”) and is based on delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana, the nexus of 16 intra- and interstate natural gas pipeline systems that draw supplies from the region’s prolific gas deposits. The pipelines serve markets throughout the U.S. East Coast, the Gulf Coast, the Midwest, and up to the Canadian border. Because of the volatility of natural gas prices, a vigorous basis market has developed in the pricing relationships between the Henry Hub and other important natural gas market centers in the continental United States and Canada. The NYMEX makes available for trading a series of basis swap futures contracts that are quoted as price differentials between approximately 30 natural gas pricing points and the Henry Hub. The basis contracts trade in units of 2,500 MMBtu on the New York Mercantile Exchange ClearPort® trading platform. The New York Mercantile Exchange ClearPort® is an electronic trading platform through which a slate of energy futures contracts are available for competitive trading. Transactions can also be consummated off-NYMEX and submitted to the NYMEX for clearing via the NYMEX ClearPort® clearing website as an exchange of futures for physicals or an exchange of futures for swaps transactions.

Light, Sweet Crude Oil. Light, sweet crudes are preferred by refiners because of their low sulfur content and relatively high yields of high-value products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, diesel-heating oil, and jet fuel. The price of light, sweet crude oil has historically exhibited periods of significant volatility.

Demand for petroleum products by consumers, as well as agricultural, manufacturing and transportation industries, determines demand for crude oil by refiners. Since the precursors of product demand are linked to economic activity, crude oil demand will tend to reflect economic conditions. However, other factors such as weather also influence product and crude oil demand.

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Crude oil supply is determined by both economic and political factors. Oil prices (along with drilling costs, availability of attractive prospects for drilling, taxes and technology, among other factors) determine exploration and development spending, which influence output capacity with a lag. In the short run, production decisions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) also affect supply and prices. Oil export embargoes geopolitical risk associated with wars, terrorist attacks and tensions between countries, including sanctions imposed as a result of the foregoing,represent other routes through which political developments move the market. It is not possible to predict the aggregate effect of all or any combination of these factors.

Diesel-Heating Oil. Diesel-heating oil, also known as No. 2 fuel oil, accounts for 25% of the yield of a barrel of crude oil, the second largest “cut” from oil after gasoline. The diesel- heating Oil Futures Contract listed and traded on the NYMEX trades in units of 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) and is based on delivery in the New York harbor, the principal cash market center. The ICE Futures also offers a diesel-heating Oil Futures Contract which trades in units of 42,000 U.S. gallons (1,000 barrels). The diesel-heating Oil Futures Contract is cash-settled against the prevailing market price for heating oil delivered to the New York Harbor.

Gasoline. Gasoline is the largest single volume refined product sold in the U.S. and accounts for almost half of national oil consumption. The gasoline futures contract listed and traded on the NYMEX trades in units of 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) and is based on delivery at petroleum products terminals in the New York harbor, the major East Coast trading center for imports and domestic shipments from refineries in the New York harbor area or from the Gulf Coast refining centers. The price of gasoline has historically been volatile.

What are Futures Contracts?

Futures contracts are agreements between two parties. One party agrees to buy a commodity such as natural gas from the other party at a later date at a price and quantity agreed upon when the contract is made. Futures Contracts are traded on futures exchanges, including the NYMEX. For example, the Benchmark Futures Contracts are traded on the NYMEX in units of 10,000 MMBtu. Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX are priced by floor brokers and other exchange members both through an “open outcry” of offers to purchase or sell the contracts and through an electronic, screen-based system that determines the price by matching electronically offers to purchase and sell. Additional risks of investing in Futures Contracts are included in “