LONDON, March 31: World oil prices slumped on Friday as supply concerns eased over major crude producers Iran and Nigeria, traders said. The drop in prices came at the end of a week in which crude futures had surged $3 per barrel on supply worries in these countries and owing also to falling stockpiles of US gasoline (petrol).

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, plunged $1.45 to $65.70 per barrel in pit trading.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for May delivery lost 77 cents to $65.69 per barrel in electronic trade.

On Thursday, New York’s main contract had reached an intra-day peak of $67.30 per barrel, the highest level since February 1.

However, traders said prices started to fall on Friday after Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Tehran would not use its oil supplies as a lever in the dispute with Western countries over its controversial nuclear programme.

“We believe the provision of energy is vital for the world,” Mottaki told reporters, when asked whether Tehran would turn its oil into a bargaining chip.

“We will remain true to our obligations to provide for the energy needs of our partners. We are not going to use energy as a political leverage,” he added.

Elsewhere, traders tracked developments in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest producer of crude.

“Also holding back buyers somewhat is news that some Nigerian production that had been shut in has been restarted,” Fimat analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said.

The Italian oil company Agip has removed a force majeure on some 75,000 barrels per day of Nigerian exports from its Brass River terminal.

Nevertheless, almost a quarter of Nigeria’s output remains shut in following militant attacks against oil installations in the oil rich Niger Delta.—AFP