World oil prices may hit $150-200 per barrel in the short term in the wake of continued unrest in the Middle East and a devastating earthquake in Japan, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told a banking forum on Wednesday.
"However, the growth to $150-200 per barrel may be speculative and short-lived," he said, adding that world oil prices were unlikely to grow considerably in the medium term.
Global oil prices have been on the rise since the start of this year over escalating unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and have reached record highs in the past two years.
Fuel supplies are low in Japan where a devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a 10-meter tsunami on Friday.