There Is An Anti ESG Energy ETF That Will Capture Every Explosive Move When Oil Gets Volatile

Most energy ETFs quietly filter out companies that don’t meet certain environmental standards. Strive U.S. Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:DRLL) does the opposite. It holds every major U.S. fossil fuel producer without exclusion, making it one of the purest oil price plays available in ETF form.

The fund launched in August 2022 with a deliberately concentrated structure — 39 positions, with 98.6% allocated to energy. Unlike broader ETFs that spread exposure across midstream pipelines and oilfield services, DRLL funnels nearly half its weight into Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) alone — 47.2% of the fund — making it essentially a direct bet on the two largest U.S. integrated oil majors. That intentional concentration is the fund’s defining feature and its primary risk factor.

The strategy has paid off over the past year. DRLL gained 27.5%, just behind XLE’s 29%, while offering purer upstream exposure that more directly tracks crude price movements — without the dilution that midstream and services names introduce into XLE’s oil price sensitivity.

DRLL manages $264.8 million in assets, a fraction of XLE’s roughly $33 billion. That size gap can translate into wider bid-ask spreads and thinner daily liquidity, which matters most when volatility spikes.

The Macro Factor That Will Drive Everything: WTI Crude

With nearly all assets in upstream and refining names, DRLL’s NAV is essentially a leveraged opinion on oil prices. WTI crude sits at $66.36 per barrel, recovering from a December 2025 trough near $55 — a swing of more than $20 over the past year. That kind of volatility flows directly into earnings for upstream producers. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)’s Q4 results illustrated the risk clearly: a roughly 9% quarterly drop in realized crude prices was enough to cut oil and gas pre-tax income nearly in half versus the prior quarter, underscoring how sensitive DRLL’s holdings are to even moderate oil price moves.

The primary variable to track is OPEC+ production policy. Any decision to increase output meaningfully could push WTI back toward the low $50s, compressing margins across DRLL’s entire portfolio. The EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, published every Wednesday, is the most practical place to monitor U.S. inventory builds and demand signals.

Why Exxon’s Earnings Matter More Than Anything Else Here

Exxon sits at nearly a quarter of the fund, making its earnings trajectory the single biggest driver of DRLL’s NAV independent of oil prices. Exxon’s most recent quarter showed revenue of $82.31 billion and EPS of $1.71, both narrowly beating estimates, while full-year 2025 production reached its highest level in over 40 years. CEO Darren Woods noted that “ExxonMobil is a fundamentally stronger company than it was just a few years ago, and our 2025 results demonstrate that.” That operational strength provides a floor, but DRLL’s upside in a rising oil environment is partly capped by how efficiently one mega-cap executes rather than how aggressively smaller E&P names run.

Historically, Exxon’s refining margins and upstream volumes have tracked closely with WTI price levels. When crude approached December 2025 lows, DRLL’s concentrated upstream exposure produced larger NAV swings than more diversified energy ETFs. Check Strive’s issuer fact sheet after each quarterly rebalance to track whether top-holding weights have shifted.