ALGIERS: Crude oil wil remain priced at around 65 to 70 dollars a barrel until the end of 2009 before rising, Algeria's Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said Saturday, the APS agency reported.

'The market will stay within a band of 65 to 70 dollars until the end of 2009, because (US) fuel consumption will rise in summer, but it is difficult to predict the market,' Khelil said in Algiers.

'The price of oil will very probably pass the 70-dollars-a-barrel limit from 2010, as the world economy recovers,' he added.

But the market nevertheless remained sensitive to other factors, such as the value of the dollar, which was dropping. Any deterioration in the world economy could also hit the price of crude, he warned.

On Friday, oil prices retreated after a brief spike that pushed New York crude above 70 dollars per barrel for the first time in seven months, before the market settled back on a US dollar rebound.

Light sweet crude hit 70.32 dollars in New York on Friday, its highest level since November 4, 2008.