Oil prices plummet

Oil prices fell on Friday, reversing in volatile trade, pulled downward by the US heating oil contract that plummeted by more than 20 per cent at one point on the day of its expiration.

The front-month US heating oil contract, which is a proxy for diesel prices, soared to a record high of $5.8595 a gallon before falling as low as $4.4067 a gallon. Diesel futures have climbed as investors worry about tight supplies globally following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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The heating oil contract expired on Friday, along with the global Brent benchmark and US petrol futures.

Volumes in all three front-month contracts was low, creating outsized volatility in the market and leading to late-day sell-offs, analysts said.

"The fireworks were all in the expiring diesel contract," said Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston. "Today's expiry is especially volatile and may not be reflective of actual tightness."

The more-active second-month Brent crude futures contract fell 12 cents to settle at $107.14 a barrel. The expiring front-month contract rose $1.75 to settle at $109.34 a barrel.