If you're interested in broad exposure to the Energy - Exploration segment of the equity market, look no further than the iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO Quick QuoteIEO - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on May 1, 2006.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Energy - Exploration is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $467.28 million, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Exploration segment of the equity market. IEO seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index is a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index. The Index includes companies that are engaged in the exploration for and extraction, production, refining, and supply of oil and gas products.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.38%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.2%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector -- about 99.7% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Conocophillips (COP) accounts for about 19.3% of total assets, followed by Eog Resources Inc (EOG) and Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC).

The top 10 holdings account for about 74.15% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IEO has added about 4.75%, and it's up approximately 0.41% in the last one year (as of 09/24/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $74.87 and $101.83.

The ETF has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 27.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 50 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. IEO, then, is not a great choice for investors seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs segment of the market. However, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

Invesco Energy Exploration & Production ETF (PXE) tracks Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production Intellidex Index and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) tracks S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. Invesco Energy Exploration & Production ETF has $72.35 million in assets, SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has $1.91 billion. PXE has an expense ratio of 0.63%, and XOP charges 0.35%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.