it's almost the same. look back at the charts. there might be a few percentage points difference, but it's still a pretty good hedge. look at the relationship between gas(function of CL) and USO. that's what you want to look at if you r looking to hedge your gas costs. and USO is an ETF, not a futures contract
It's not an ETF. It's a PTP (publicly traded partnership) You will get a K1 for your income tax return. I've never invested in USO and thus haven't seen the USO K1 statement. But, in my regular line of work, I have to pay quarterly income taxes with K1 statements. They are several pages long, but not too difficult to understand for tax filing purposes.
Now that's a great contract! Hasn't been out all that long, but the interest will continue to increase in this wonderful product.