A prominent Canadian energy investor said he expects oil prices to rise, and he sees production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) as a move to reassure market concerns about price impacts from a potential recession.

Eric Nuttall, partner and senior portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners, told BNN Bloomberg on Tuesday that he thinks OPEC+ chose to “do something bold” to send a message that a recession won’t drive oil prices.

“We think the price of oil now is mispriced relative to where inventories are,” Nuttall said in a television interview.

He expects oil prices to reach $100 per barrel by the end of 2023.

“Essentially, OPEC is going to overtighten the market, the price is going to spike higher and they're actually going to have to unwind these cuts by the end of the year.”

Oil was trading at $81.35, up 0.88 per cent, as of Tuesday morning at 10:02 a.m., two days after OPEC+ announced it would cut about one million barrels of daily output in a surprise measure it said was meant to support oil market stability.

Nuttall said he also expects strong demand for oil in growing countries, particularly China, could offset any price impacts from a potential recession in western nations like the U.S.

“The pace of draws I think are going to surprise people in terms of their magnitude, and the extent of that I think will be able to jolt people from this .... state of having to always worry about a recession and therefore the demand for oil must fall,” he said. “I do not believe that narrative.”