OPEC negotiates with Russian officials

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Posted 10:03AM on Monday, March 4, 2002

MOSCOW - OPEC's secretary-general began negotiating with top Russian officials Monday to persuade the world's second-biggest oil producer to keep exports down so world prices can stabilize. Ali Rodriguez said upon arriving Sunday he hoped Russia would keep output low in the second quarter. ``Russia is playing a very important role at the present,'' he said. Rodriguez will meet with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, Energy Minister Igor Yusufov and Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny, who is influential in shaping energy policy. Alarmed by a slide in oil prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries trimmed its collective production by 1.5 million barrels a day starting in January. Russia, under heavy OPEC pressure although not an OPEC member, agreed to cut exports by 150,000 barrels a day in the first quarter of the year. But the government has yet to decide export levels for the second quarter. Yusufov said Sunday that Russia wants to keep the price of crude oil at a ``fair level'' of $20-$25 a barrel, and he expressed satisfaction that prices recently returned to this range. Brent oil traded at $21.89 Friday. Russia's government relies heavily on oil revenues and the country's young oil giants have been ramping up production in recent years. That increased production and high world oil prices drove the country's economic growth the past two years. Still, the president of the Russian Fuel Union, Sergei Borisov, urged the government Monday to cooperate with OPEC and not boost production, which could suppress prices. Current prices are ``very good, and they are fine for the Russian budget. It would be wise to continue this policy,'' Borisov said on NTV television. ``If we demonstratively leave the field of talks, if we go our own way in the export sphere, then other countries could do the same and the international market would grow unpredictable.'' Rodriguez' visit comes before the March 15 OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria. He said last week the cartel was unlikely to adjust production levels at that meeting.