Stubbornly low commodity prices are expected to reduce capital spending in Canada’s oilpatch as companies brace for what could be slimmer returns on their products, but consumers might be in for a run of low gasoline prices as a result, analysts say.

North American oil prices are on the mend from a mid-October trough, when the fuel was trading for less than US$57 per barrel, but market watchers expect prices will remain subdued even into next year.

The single biggest force behind the weak outlook is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is ramping up production of oil, Jackie Forrest, executive director at the ARC Energy Research Institute, said.

During the pandemic, OPEC made the call to cut production in an attempt to preserve a higher price of oil. But when

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