Iran's Opec governor said on Saturday the ideal oil price would normally be $50 to $60 a barrel but factors such as the situation in Iraq and other world crises were pushing prices higher.
"The ideal price for oil, in a normal situation, is between $50 to $60 (a barrel)," Hossein Kazempour Ardebili was quoted by the students news agency ISNA as saying.
Oil prices fell more than a $1 on Friday to fresh five-month lows of near $66 a barrel as some supply concerns eased. But consuming nations have still complained prices remain too high.
"Global inflation, expensive technology, regional policies, crises in different parts of the world, the Iraqi situation and also limitations in drawing oil from reserves cause the oil price to go up," he said. "But finally these factors will be balanced and the realistic figure for oil prices will be reached," he said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna on September 11. Kazempour Ardebili said he did not expect the cartel to change quotas, repeating a view Iranian officials have repeatedly expressed ahead of that meeting.
"It seems that because the prices are satisfactory for producers, even though high for consumers, Opec will continue its production ceiling that is 28 million barrels," Kazempour Ardebili said. The quota for 10 Opec members is 28 million barrels per day.