OIL NEAR $50

The price of a barrel of oil dipped below the $60 mark for the first time in a year, at the end of November.

It has slid to nearly $50 a barrel since.

The global oil oversupply has persisted and the threat of  supply crunch has receded on the fears of a global economic slowdown.

Opec is likely to cut a deal to curtail production in order to  stem the slump in prices.

The World Bank has forecast an expectation that oil prices will average $74 a barrel in 2019, $2 higher than its 2018 forecast.