(Ecofin Agency) - Crude oil prices plunged on Friday as talks of a meeting by oil producers to freeze production did not assure traders that efforts were being made to reduce rising glut.

The decline occurred after oil markets increased late on Thursday led strong U.S. gasoline demand and on hopes that OPEC members can manage supply.

Hopes had been raised on talks of a meeting between OPEC-members Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela as well as non-OPEC producer, Russia in March to deliberate on freezing crude oil production at January levels.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at $32.96 a barrel on Friday, 11 cents down from their previous settlement.

“Capping production at January levels, when the market was pumping out well over a million barrels of crude a day above what consumers need, will in no way reduce overcapacity. In fact, given that Iran has started to return to markets since January, it'll worsen the glut,” a senior oil trader said.

Iran is expecting to boost crude exports by 1 million bpd after international sanctions against it were lifted in January. The sanctions had slashed Iran's exports by over half from nearly 3 million bpd in 2011, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji