Article content

After a painful 18-month-long decline, have oil prices finally bottomed out? Glad you asked. Yes they have.

At least, that’s the unqualified, confidently forthright prediction of Maison Placements Canada energy analyst Josef Schachter.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Gary Lamphier: Oil prices have finally hit bottom, analyst says Back to video

Skeptical? You’re not alone. Most forecasters have been dead wrong since the price of benchmark grade U.S. light crude began its long, tortuous slide from a peak of $107 US a barrel in mid-2014 to a recent low of less than $35.

Some predicted prices would bottom out at $80, then $60, then $50. Eventually, most analysts simply gave up trying to call a bottom, arguing that Saudi Arabia’s new-found unwillingness to curb output has fundamentally changed the game.

Iran’s pending return to global markets has also complicated matters.

As a result, they’ve grown wary of making bold predictions. But not Schachter. He’s convinced that prices have finally hit bottom and are poised to begin a long, slow climb in 2016 and beyond.