The price of US oil dips briefly below $50

The price of oil briefly dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time in more than five years Monday as evidence mounted that the world will be oversupplied with oil this year.

U.S. oil dipped to $49.95 before quickly inching back over $50. Around noon, it was down $2.40, or 4.6 percent, to $50.29 a barrel. In June of last year it traded for $107 a barrel.

Oil has been falling for several months because global supplies are rising, especially in the U.S., at a time when weakness in the global economy is slowing the growth in oil demand.

On Monday Citigroup cut its forecast for 2015 global oil prices as a result of high supplies.

The last time U.S. oil traded below $50 was April 29, 2009.

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