Oil giant Shell, announced it would cut 2,800 jobs upon completion of its merger with the UK liquefied petroleum gas company, BG Group, following 7,500 job losses earlier this year.

This is nearly 3% of the 100,000 people employed by Shell around the world.

The announcement came as the merger, which will create Britain’s largest public company, was approved by the Chinese authorities to clear its final regulatory hurdle, but it came on a day when the price of oil continued to tumble

The price of a barrel of Brent Crude dropped $1.60 to just over $36, its lowest level since December 2008.

Some commentators expect the price to continue to fall over the coming days, particularly if, as expected, US interest rates begin to rise from tomorrow.

OPEC decided to keep its oil production levels unchanged during its December meeting two weeks ago - increasing the pressure on US producers.

"Prices will remain low and will drop even lower," at Irish petrol stations, according to Tom Noonan, chief executive of Maxol Ireland. Although Irish consumers have been warned that almost 90% of the cost of petrol is fixed and mainly goes to the Government through taxes and charges, meaning that price changes should be modest.