MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The oil prices will rebound since the oil supply is expected to drop amid bankruptcy of small fracking businesses, former Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Rene Ortiz told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"The small fracking companies reduce production or go bankrupt. These figures have not come out as yet, but in the first quarter of 2016 the world will see the drop in production in the United States, Brazil, Russia and West Africa," he said.
Market prices for benchmark Brent and WTI crude dropped to a 12-year low in mid-January, sliding below the level of $30 a barrel due to oversupply in the market. Some fracking companies in the United States became unprofitable as oil prices declined below a level that covers the costs required for exploration, development and extraction.