Crude oil futures fell Friday, backing off from the previous day’s surge when fund buying and supply fears drove prices sharply higher.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 35 cents to $53.22 a barrel in electronic trading by afternoon in Europe on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday prices briefly surpassed $55 a barrel and settled at their highest level since late October.

Heating oil prices fell nearly 2 cents to $1.4725 a gallon. Brent crude futures fell 45 cents to $51.50 on the International Petroleum Exchange, after reaching intraday highs above $52 a barrel on Thursday.

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