Russian delegation not to attend OPEC emergency conference

The Russian Energy Ministry has confirmed that the Russian delegation is not taking part in the 128th OPEC emergency session.

"The Russian delegation is not taking part in the conference," a source in the ministry told RIA Novosti over telephone without explaining the reason.

Earlier, a high-ranking source in the OPEC Vienna headquarters told RIA Novosti that the cartel management had annulled the invitations to Russia, Oman, Mexico, Egypt and Syria to attend the extraordinary conference of the OPEC member-countries' Energy and Oil Ministers which opens in Vienna on Thursday.

The source asserted that the management of the cartel was forced to do it "because the states, having the status of observers in the OPEC, showed little interest in the forthcoming conference and did not inform in time about the composition of their delegations." The spokesman for the Russian Energy Ministry said that though the Russian delegation's absence at the OPEC conference, Russia stands for deeper co-operation between the Russian energy sector and the world oil cartel. This policy objectively reflects mutual interest in receiving reliable information about the current situation on the world oil markets and about the forecasts for their short-term and medium-term development, said the spokesman.

He said that the price range of 22-28 US dollars per barrel, established by OPEC in 1999, was acceptable to Russia.

Russia will be ready to continue consultations with OPEC on a multilateral and bilateral level, said the source in the Russian Energy Ministry.