World crude oil prices rose above 69 dollars Thursday on concern over Iran.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, added 76 cents to close at 69.45 dollars a barrel.

On London's ICE Futures exchange, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was up 63 cents to settle at 69.67 dollars a barrel.

Traders are still concerned about the possibilities that Iran's oil exports would halt if the United Nations imposes an international sanction on Teheran for its nuclear activities.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Thursday for international attention to find solutions for the Iranian nuclear issue. Iran said Wednesday that it would reject a deal with the European Union, which plans to offer incentives in exchange of Iran's halt of uranium enrichment.

The Department of Energy said Wednesday that U.S. gasoline stocks grew for the third straight week by 1.3 million barrels last week to 206.4 million barrels.

Source: Xinhua