Oil shares down on weak crude oil prices; ONGC down 2%

Oil shares were down after global investment bank Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast

Shares of oil companies were trading lower after global crude oil prices eased to near six year lows amid reports that global investment bank Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast.  

Oil prices continued their rout on Tuesday with Brent crude and US WTI both falling to their lowest in almost six years, as a persistent global supply glut offset data showing record high imports by key consumer China, Reuters said in a report.

The falls came despite record Chinese crude imports for December, which rose above 7 million barrels a day for the first time as the world's No.2 oil consumer took advantage of low prices to build up its strategic reserves, the report said.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs cutting their average forecast for Brent in 2015 to $50.40 a barrel from $83.75.

Among the oil shares, ONGC was down 2.2%, Reliance Industries was down 0.5% and Oil India was down 2.5%.