OIL PRICE Contrarian

Enjoy low fuel prices while they last. It will not be for much longer, believes Charles Whall, a London-based Investec Asset Management portfolio manager.

“The oil price recovery is likely to surprise investors in its speed and scale, just as the selloff has,” says Whall.

Though Whall concedes the oil price could go lower in the very short term, he predicts an average Brent crude oil price of US$60/bbl in the second quarter, rising to $85/bbl in the fourth. “A supply shock could boost the price to $100/bbl by the end of the year,” he says.

Central to Whall’s view is US