What's the 20 year return on crude oil futures?

Answer: zero (spring 1990 - spring 2010)

A nail in the coffin of Jim Roger's "commodity futures have always outperformed the commodity producer equities" theory?

Crude Oil Futures

(log chart, monthly bars, front month back-adjusted future data, does not include interest paid on cash collateral, data source: CSI DATA)

Amex Oil Stock Index

(log chart, monthly bars, does not include dividends paid, data source: CSI DATA)

 

...and if you pick 1986-2008 you get 400%...

As usual, timing is everything....

 

Oil related equities outperformed that for 1986-2008 and probably more most other time frames that I have data for. I found that interesting.