http://www.cnbc.com/id/25386960
Crude oil prices could rise to as high as $170 per barrel in the coming months but are unlikely to hit $200 and should ease towards the end of the year, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said in an interview on Thursday.
"I forecast prices probably between $150-170 during this summer. That will perhaps ease towards the end of the year," he told France 24 television, according to a text of the interview released by the station.
The comments came as crude prices neared $135 per barrel, after rising about 40 percent this year.
Khelil said he doubted prices would climb as high as $200.
"I think that the devaluation of the dollar against the euro, if everything goes as I think it will, will be of the order of perhaps 1-2 percent and this will probably generate an $8 rise in the price of oil," he said.
The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said it had been clearly established that speculation was affecting markets.