World crude oil futures fell sharply on Friday as traders took profits at high prices levels.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 1.59 dollars to 60.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for April lost 1.20 dollars to 61.13 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

World crude oil futures rose by more than 1 dollar on Wednesday after U.S. supplies of energy declined in cold weather. Some traders sold their positions to take profits at high prices levels.

The U.S. Energy Department reported early Wednesday that its crude supplies dropped by 4.8 million barrels to 324.2 million barrels for the week ended March 2, down 5.1 percent from a year ago.

Gasoline inventories fell 3.8 million barrels to 216.4 million barrels -- down 3.9 percent from a year, as distillate inventories, which include heating oil, fell 1.3 million barrels to 123.2 million for last week.

The 11 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet in Vienna, Austria next Thursday. OPEC has vowed to reduce supply by half a million barrels per day from Feb. 1 following a 1.2 million-barrel-per day cut since November, to curb the falling oil prices.

Source: Xinhua