Crude futures fell for the fifth consecutive day Friday, dragged down by a drop in gasoline prices. Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 54 cents to US$53.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Europe. Heating oil prices dropped a cent to US$1.5184 a gallon (3.8 liters). Gasoline futures dropped more than a cent to US$1.5515 a gallon (3.8 liters) after dropping 9 cents the day before. On the International Petroleum Exchange, Brent crude was down 74 cents at US$53.30 a barrel. The sell-off came after U.S. Energy Department data earlier in the week showed that the nation's gasoline production jumped 5.2 percent last week to its highest level this year and that the country's gasoline stockpiles were 5.7 percent higher than a year earlier. The U.S. Energy Department also said the nation's inventory of crude oil was 317.1 million barrels, or 8 percent higher than last year.
