World crude prices are expected to gain this year or at least stabilize at between $50 and $60 a barrel, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali al-Omair was quoted as saying. "Forecasts for the oil price this year indicate that it will gain or at least stabilise between $50 and $60 a barrel," the official KUNA news agency quoted Omair as saying late on Saturday in Bahrain. The minister said prices are currently supported by conflict in Iraq and Libya and by a drop in sand oil and shale oil output. But that is counterbalanced by slow global economic growth, which is dampening demand, Omair said. World prices dropped at close on Friday as the dollar rose sharply, making dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers using weaker foreign currencies. West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April slid $1.15 to $49.61 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending near its week-ago level. Brent North Sea crude for April, the international benchmark, dropped 75 cents to $59.73 a barrel in London.
