Crude oil prices tumble Friday

New York -- Crude oil prices fell $5.24 in 24 hours to $114.71 per barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil fell as the euro dropped to its lowest point against the U.S. dollar since February.

Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party claimed responsibility for an explosion that sparked a fire at the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that normally handles 1 million barrels of Caspian region oil a day, The Wall Street Journal reported.

With a backdrop of waning U.S. demand, however, the supply disruption didn't keep oil prices from falling.

Oil prices have declined more than 20 percent below its July peak.

Heating oil also fell Friday, down 0.1126 cents to $3.12 per gallon.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices fell 0.1165 cents to $2.8824 per gallon. Natural gas prices fell 0.262 cents to $8.297 per million British thermal units.

The national average retail price of unleaded gasoline fell 0.013 cents to $3.836 per gallon, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.