Crude oil drips from a valve at an oil well operated by Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, in the oil rich Orinoco belt, near Morichal at the state of Monagas April 16, 2015. The World Bank raised its crude oil price forecast for 2017 to $55 a barrel on Thursday from $53 a barrel, as it expects an output agreement among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to help trim excess supply. Energy prices, which include oil, natural gas and coal, are expected to jump nearly 25 percent next year, a larger increase than previously forecast, the World Bank said in a quarterly commodity markets outlook report. “We expect a solid rise in energy prices, led by oil, next year,” said John Baffes, senior economist at the World Bank. “However, there is considerable uncertainty around the outlook as we await the details and the implementation of the […]