Iran oil minister sees crude price rising -report

TEHRAN, May 31 (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said crude prices were expected to rise in a "calm fashion", the Oil Ministry web site SHANA reported on Sunday.

"It seems oil market conditions will improve further," it quoted Gholamhossein Nozari as saying.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left output targets unchanged at a meeting in Vienna on Thursday, as higher oil prices and optimism the global economy would soon start to recover outweighed concern over high crude stocks.

The oil price CLc1, which has more than doubled from a December low of $32.40 a barrel, hit a six-month high over $66 a barrel on Friday.

Nozari pointed at previous OPEC decisions to reduce output as a reason for the higher oil price this year. Iran is traditionally a price hawk within the producer group.

OPEC has agreed to reduce production since September by about 4.2 million barrels per day, or about 5 percent of world supply. It is estimated to have delivered around 80 percent of those cuts so far.

"Market analysis indicate that OPEC's previous decisions in regard to lowering its output ... will have positive effects on the market over the long run and prices will rise day-by-day in a calm fashion," Nozari said.

He also said there were indications of improving economic conditions in countries such as China and India, major buyers of Iranian crude.

Nozari's upbeat comments about the oil price appeared to be in contrast to remarks by Iran's OPEC governor last week.