Oil prices fell sharply on profit-taking after an overnight rally driven by sharp gains on Wall Street.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for May delivery, dropped $2.50 to $51.84 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May shed $2.03 to $51.43.
Analysts said crude prices probably ran out of steam due to worries that the worst is not over for the US economy.
Meanwhile, the president of oil producer the United Arab Emirates said in an interview published yesterday that an oil price of $70-75 a barrel would be 'fair'. The current level 'hurts everyone,' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan was quoted by the official WAM news agency as saying.
