Russia to participate in extraordinary OPEC forum for the first time

Major oil exporters, non-OPEC countries, have been officially invited to the 125th extraordinary conference of the Organisation of Petroleum-Exporting Countries, the OPEC General Secretariat in Vienna said. The conference will take place in Qatar's capital Doha on June 10-11.

Russia, Mexico and Norway were invited to participate in the work of the OPEC superior forum.

Independent oil-producers will take part in the work of the OPEC extraordinary conference for the first time in the history of the world oil cartel, said OPEC President, Qatar's Minister of Energy, Industry, Water and Electricity Abdallah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, who signed the invitation.

"The Qatar conference of the cartel will be of great importance as it has not only to take decisions on the changing of quotas on production and exports of crude oil which will be adapted to modern state of world energy markets but also to consider the problem of OPEC member Iraq which is to return to the international oil exchanges soon," al-Attiyah told journalists in Doha.

According to him, "Russia has already agreed to participate in the 125th conference as observer in the person of Energy Minister Igor Yusufov".

The OPEC President highly appraised Russia's role in the world energy. "Russia's support will help to considerably stabilise the situation in the world crude oil markets," he added.