Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told OPEC's secretary general on Wednesday he wanted closer cooperation with the organization, as Russian officials focused on falls in the price of crucial oil and gas exports. “For our energy institutions, cooperation with OPEC in forming energy policy is a key priority,” Medvedev told OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri, who was in Moscow before an OPEC meeting on Friday at which the cartel is widely expected to cut output. “Russia is also a major producer and exporter of oil and is interested in supporting stable, predictable oil prices,” Medvedev said. Medvedev's comments came a day after Russian officials met with Iranian and Qatari counterparts in Tehran to push forward plans for an organisation of gas producers that commentators have dubbed a “gas OPEC.” Earlier the OPEC secretary general said he would not be asking Russia to join in any arrangement to support prices. “I will not ask Russia to cut production. I will request an exchange of information about the situation on the market and the financial crisis,” he said. The price of oil plunged close to $65 per barrel on Wednesday, hitting a 17-month low after news that US energy stockpiles rose across the board last week, traders said. The market was already facing intense selling pressure on renewed worries about energy demand in the face of slowing global growth and despite a likely OPEC output cut later this week, analysts said. London's Brent North Sea crude for December delivery tumbled to $65.28 per barrel, which was last seen on May 20, 2007. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December, sank as low as $67.50 a barrel, which was last witnessed on June 27, 2007. The US Department of Energy (DoE) revealed Wednesday that American crude oil reserves jumped 3.2 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 17. Gasoline or petrol inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels last week. Chakib Khelil, Algeria's oil minister and OPEC's current president, speaks of a “significant” reduction from the present daily output of around 29 million barrels, and expectations are that the group could pare up to 2 million barrels from that figure. In the past, rare cuts of that magnitude have led to significant jumps in prices and OPEC is hoping that this time too, its strategy will lead to a turnaround in sagging markets. Significant upward trend may be short-lived because of widespread worries that the worst is not yet over as far as economic and financial malaise is concerned.
