World oil prices fell sharply on the eve of U.S. energy stockpiles weekly report as traders anticipated the energy inventories would grow further.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, dropped 1.73 dollars to close at 61.01 dollars per barrel.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery slid 1.16 dollars to 60.44 dollars per barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, heating oil dipped 1.43 cents to close at 1.6521 dollars a gallon as gasoline futures were unchanged at 1.4745 dollars per gallon. Natural gas futures declined 44.8 cents to finish at 7.283 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

Nigerian officials sought to negotiate the release of nine foreign workers being held as "human shields" by rebel fighters. The recent attacks has forced Shell to halt the flow of about 455, 000 barrels a day - about one-fifth of the country's daily output, or less than 1 percent of total global demand.

Nigeria, with daily exports of 2.5 million barrels, is Africa's leading oil producer. It is also the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.

Source: Xinhua