UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
DC 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of
Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 9,
2009
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UNITED
STATES NATURAL GAS FUND, LP
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(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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001-33096
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20-5576760
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(State
or other jurisdiction
of
incorporation)
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(Commission
File Number)
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(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
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1320
Harbor Bay Parkway, Suite 145
Alameda,
California 94502
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(Address
of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
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Registrant's
telephone number, including area code
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(510)
522-3336
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Not
Applicable
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(Former
name or former address, if changed since last report)
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Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions (see General Instruction
A.2. below):
o Written
communication pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
o Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b))
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the
Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item
8.01. Other Events
On August
12, 2009, the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (“UNG”) registration statement
on Form S-3 (333-159772) was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”). Subsequently, UNG re-commenced offerings of
Creation Baskets on September 28, 2009 on a limited basis and subject to the
terms and conditions set forth in UNG’s Form 8-K filed on September 11,
2009. (UNG issues and redeems units in blocks of 100,000 units called
“Creation Baskets” and “Redemption Baskets,” respectively. Only
Authorized Purchasers may purchase or redeem Creation Baskets or Redemption
Baskets.)
To date,
UNG has invested primarily in futures contracts for natural gas, crude oil,
heating oil, gasoline, and other petroleum-based fuels that are traded on the
New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”), ICE Futures (formerly, the
International Petroleum Exchange) or other U.S. and foreign exchanges
(collectively, “Futures Contracts”). UNG currently expects that
Futures Contracts will remain its principal investment. However, as
indicated in the prospectus, UNG may invest in interests other than Futures
Contracts including cash-settled options on Futures Contracts, forward contracts
for natural gas, cleared swap contracts, and over-the-counter transactions that
are based on the price of natural gas, crude oil and other petroleum-based
fuels, Futures Contracts and indices based on the foregoing (collectively,
“Other Natural Gas-Related Investments”) to comply with accountability levels
and position limits. Due to current and anticipated new regulatory
restrictions and limitations that have been and may be imposed by the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, the NYMEX and the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.,
the accountability levels and position limits applicable to the Futures
Contracts in which UNG invests are anticipated to change. UNG’s
management has determined that UNG may need to invest a larger portion, or
potentially all, of its investments in Other Natural Gas-Related Investments in
order to continue to meet its investment objective and comply with these
regulatory changes.
As
previously disclosed in UNG’s prospectus, investments in Other Natural
Gas-Related Interests, including over-the-counter swaps, are not as liquid as
investments in Futures Contracts and entail different risks, including
potentially higher credit risk, than do investments in Futures
Contracts. To ameliorate these risks, UNG has entered into cleared
natural gas swap contracts, which share many of the attributes of Futures
Contracts including liquidity, exchange oversight, standardized terms, and the
posting of margin. UNG has also entered into natural gas-based over-the-counter
swap agreements that provide for the netting of its overall exposure to the
counterparty and holding collateral posted by counterparties to secure such
exposure. However, its investments in over-the-counter swaps and
Other Natural Gas-Related Interests expose UNG to potentially greater credit
risk than Futures Contracts. UNG may not hold sufficient collateral
to cover such exposure and a counterparty may not otherwise be able to satisfy
its obligations to UNG on termination of the investment contract. In
addition, as a result of increasing its investments in Other Natural Gas-Related
Investments, including over-the-counter swaps, UNG may be subject to payment of
fees or other amounts in connection with these investments that exceed the
amounts it currently pays in connection with its direct investments in Futures
Contracts. These payments may have the effect of increasing
transaction-related expenses and result in increased tracking
error.
Certain
matters discussed in this current report on Form 8-K, including any
statements that are predictive in nature or concern future market and economic
conditions, our future performance, or our future actions and their
expected results are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events
and are not guarantees of future performance. We do not have a
specific policy or intent of updating or revising forward-looking
statements. Actual events and results may differ materially from
those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of
factors. Please see our periodic reports and other filings with the
SEC for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties
applicable to our business. The forward-looking statements and
projections contained in this current report on Form 8-K are excluded from the
safe harbor protection provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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UNITED
STATES NATURAL GAS FUND, LP
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By:
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United
States Commodity Funds LLC, its general partner
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Date: October
9, 2009
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By:
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/s/
Howard Mah
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Name:
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Howard
Mah
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Title:
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Chief
Financial Officer
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