Futurist Sees Oil Hitting $80 Per Barrel In 1-2 Years

Economist and futurist Chris Martenson says oil prices will rise to $80 "within one or two years."

The founder of the web site Peak Prosperity told Benzinga that oil "has to at least cost the marginal cost of production. That's at least $80 a barrel in this world."

Oil

Oil prices

trended down

Friday amid oversupply concerns, with U.S. oil contracts off about 1 percent at $59.10 and Brent contracts down a fraction of a percent to $62.85 a barrel.

<> Martenson added that "we're looking at a market that is about as oversupplied as it's been in a long time. Thats going to weigh on prices."

Shale

Shale oil companies, meanwhile are laden with a total of $235 billion in debt, according to Martenson.

"Even if they got $50 a barrel it means that 4.7 billion barrels of oil they're pumping is already spoken for by the debt," Martenson said.

In Focus

Martenson singled out

Whiting Petroleum CorpWLL

for its debt.

"People investing in that company are counting on higher oil prices," Martenson said of Whiting. "That's a bet that's not an investment."

Martenson added that crude is a fundamental market. "That's why I love it. It ends up making sense," Martenson said.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs