World oil prices will hold above $40 in the year to March 2006, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh predicted on Sunday. "The price will be more than $40," he said on state television, when asked to give a prediction for the Iranian financial year.
New York crude oil futures for September delivery closed at $58.65 per barrel.
Iran, a traditional OPEC price hawk, insists that the cartel is powerless to cool scorching world prices, blaming refinery bottlenecks in the United States for the rises.