The more alarmist talk is of prices sliding down from their early 2014 highs of about $115 per barrel, and this year’s $50 to $60 per barrel, to perhaps $25 per barrel or even lower in the coming months.

Some this week were discussing a possible freefall to $20 per barrel.

Predicting oil prices is usually a losing game — not least because of potentially high political risk factors associated with many key producing regions.

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