Oil prices are "definitely in a lower-for-longer environment", but crude will still nearly double from current levels by late 2016, the CEO of Hess Corporation said. "By the end of next year, I think the price will start moving up as supply growth starts to retard [and] demand goes up," John Hess told CNBC. "All of a sudden the market is going to draw on inventories and you're probably going to be looking at least at $60 by the end of next year." Goldman Sachs is standing by its prediction that crude will eventually bottom at $20 per barrel—a level bank researchers said would force companies to finally make the deep production cuts necessary for the market to start recovering. Like Goldman, Hess blamed OPEC's refusal at its recent meeting to cut production as a major headwind for the market. He also expected lifting of the 40-year US ban on oil exports as the "bright spot" for the industry. "It's going to boost economic growth … It's going to create jobs as oil prices get better."
