MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) Russia's oil-dependent economy is expected to grow from 2017 onwards, supported by higher global crude prices and oil production rising to new post-Soviet highs, the World Bank said on Tuesday. The international lender said it expected Russian gross domestic product to grow by 1.3 percent in 2017 and by 1.4 percent in 2018 and 2019, following two years of economic contraction. Greater oil earnings would "positively influence consumer and investor sentiment, leading to a recovery of domestic demand and modest economic growth in 2017-19," the World Bank said in a semi-annual report. It said its latest growth forecasts were based on the assumption that crude prices would average
55 a barrel this year,
60 in 2018 and