Energy

Don't forget about the Iranian barrels: Croft

Pro: Iran will play a part in the direction of oil
VIDEO2:1602:16
Pro: Iran will play a part in the direction of oil

Oil could go into the $20 range and possibly stay there for a period, Helima Croft, global head of commodities at RBC Capital Markets, told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Tuesday.

The comments came after Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, forecast that Tuesday marked a short-term bottom for oil.

"We have Iranian barrels about to hit the market pretty soon," Croft said. "We don't see a really bullish catalyst out there right now on the near term."

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As Wall Street debates who will cut production, with many eyeing the Saudis since OPEC's last meeting, Croft insisted that the Saudis are preparing for lower prices for longer.

"The Saudis have just announced an austerity budget," she said. "They're pulling back subsidies; they're talking about big privatizations."

She added that while there were speculations that OPEC was going to have an emergency meeting, the cartel is waiting for information that is not in yet.

"I was at the December meeting and they said 'we can't cut now, we don't know what Russian production is going to look like, we don't know about the U.S. and we don't know the Iranian numbers,'" she said.

"At least that will all be known by June, but I'm still not betting that they're going to pull the barrels at this point."