Oil prices fall on profit-taking

World crude oil prices fell Friday but still hovered above 67 dollars, as traders took profits.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, dropped 55 cents to 67.39 dollars a barrel.

On London's ICE Futures exchange, the price of Brent North Sea crude for May delivery declined 55 cents to 67.29 dollars a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the heating oil fell 1 cent to 1.8826 dollars a gallon as gasoline futures fell 2.33 cents to 1.9766 dollars per gallon. Natural gas futures fell 22.9 cents to 6.743 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

World crude oil prices touched two months highs Thursday amid worries of supply in Iran and Nigeria, as U.S. gasoline inventories fell sharply.

Traders are still concerned about a possible halt in Iran's oil exports if the United Nations imposes an international sanction against Tehran for its nuclear activities.

Meanwhile, about one-fourth of Nigeria's daily output is still shut after a series of militant attacks. Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.

The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday in its weekly report that domestic inventories of gasoline shrank by 4.4 million barrels last week to 211.8 million barrels, or roughly in line with year-ago levels. The nation's supply of distillate, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell by 2.6 million barrels to 121.6 million barrels.

Source: Xinhua