Crude prices slid sharply Friday settling below 62 dollars a barrel.

The Department of Energy, which said in January to buy up to 129,033 barrels of crude oil a day, announced Thursday that it would reject bids for the purchase of up to 4 million barrels of crude as too high.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery declined 1.33 dollars a barrel to settle at 61.86 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude for June delivery fell 74 cents to 65.31 dollars a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

Also in New York, heating oil futures for June fell 1.44 cents to settle at 1.8309 dollars a gallon, while natural gas prices fell 0.9 cents to settle at 7.938 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: Xinhua