Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan shared his belief that oil prices have bottomed out near $40 a barrel since oil futures have entered a bear market while settlements tumbled more than 20 percent in the past two months.
“It’s hard for me to imagine it going very much lower, but it could,” said Greenspan during a Wednesday conference call.
The economist and private adviser foresees oil trading in a range of $40 to $50 a barrel over the next few years. Greenspan said the long-held benchmark of $50 a barrel would be high enough to encourage new shale oil production in the U.S.
In March of 2015, Greenspan warned that “oil hasn’t bottomed yet” and “we’ll be lucky if we can get $40 for it.”