The Canadian energy sector has been hit hard by the sharp decline in oil prices. At the start of this year, concerns over a slowdown in China and oversupplies, pushed oil prices to a fresh multi-year lows. However, the good news for Canada’s energy sector and global oil market is that prices have recovered in recent weeks.
The recovery has been aided by the decision of major producers, including Saudi Arabia, to freeze production to January levels. While Saudi Arabia had been initially reluctant to freeze production, it finally succumbed to the pressure put by lower oil prices on its budget.
Analysts believe that a production freeze will not push prices much higher, but it will provide support to prices. The recovery in oil prices has also boosted some oil-focused ETFs. One of them is the Horizon BetaPro NYMEX Crude Oil Bull Plus (ETF) (TSX: HOU), which seeks daily investment results equal to 200% the daily performance of the NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures contract for the next delivery month. The ETF has gained almost 14% in the last one month alone.
Another ETF that has benefited from a recovery in oil prices is Horizons NYMEX Crude Oil ETF (TSX: HUC). In the last one month alone, the ETF has gained almost 8%.
