UPDATE 2-Iran says current crude prices are 'good'

>TEHRAN Nov 1 (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister said on Tuesday that current international crude prices are "good" and predicted that prices will remain unchanged until March."The current oil prices are good ... we are not expecting the prices to change in winter," Rostam Qasemi told a news conference.Brent crude has averaged over $111 this year and traded over $109 a barrel on Monday.Oil prices slipped on Tuesday on a stronger U.S. dollar, continuing uncertainty about the resolution of the euro zone's debt crisis and the collapse of MF Global Holdings .OPEC Secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri, who is in Iran to attend an international oil and gas industry conference, also said that oil consumers and producer countries were "comfortable" with current oil prices and expressed hope that the cartel's member countries will reach a consensus over production targets in the December meeting."The price of $100 is comfortable for the consumer and the producing countries ...the crude price is not expected to come down until the end of this year."I am hopeful that there will be an agreement over OPEC's production target in the next meeting," al-Badri told reporters.OPEC is scheduled to meet on Dec. 14 at its Vienna headquarters.Price hawk Iran along with African countries and Venezuela, blocked a Saudi-led proposal to increase output targets at OPEC's last meeting on June 8, but Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates boosted output unilaterally afterwards -- a move which Tehran criticised.OPEC oil output fell in October as reduced supplies from Iraq, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Angola offset rising Libyan supply, according to a Reuters survey.The International Energy Agency does not want OPEC to cut output at its December meeting because the IEA expects demand for OPEC oil will grow by half a million barrels per day in 2012 above the group's September output.Regarding Iran, al-Badri said: "The economic sanctions will slow down development of Iran's oil industry, but will not stop it".Iran has been hit by international sanctions for refusing to halt nuclear activities as demanded by the United Nations Security Council.The United States and its allies say Iran is trying to build bombs under cover of its civilian nuclear programme. Iran denies this.

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