Oil prices fell below $48 a barrel to a five-and-a-half-year low after Goldman Sachs cut its forecasts for this year, wiping billions of pounds off the value of London-listed oil companies.
The investment bank slashed its price forecasts from $80 to $42 for the next three months after warning that it would take longer than expected for the global glut of crude to ease.
The prediction triggered another rout in prices, with Brent falling by $2.88, or 5.8 per cent, to $47.18, one of the biggest single-day falls in recent months. Oil prices have now fallen by almost 60 per cent since hitting $115 in June last year.
In Britain, the four big supermarkets began another round of petrol price cuts yesterday after a garage