Russia does not rule out joining OPEC: Medvedev

MOSCOW: Russia is ready to join forces with OPEC to stem the plunge in crude prices and could even become part of the oil cartel if membership were in Moscow's interests, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

Medvedev's comments were a clear signal Russia is prepared to agree to OPEC demands for coordinated output cuts to bolster crude prices and also examine its long term political strategy in the oil market.

"Our partners, colleagues from the oil club (OPEC) are asking us to have a coordinated policy and whoever I meet, they are asking quite actively," he said in remarks broadcast on state television.

"I would like to say that we are ready to protect ourselves as this is our base income, oil and gas," said Medvedev, who was on a visit to the town of Kurgan outside Moscow.

"Such protective measures can be linked to a reduction in oil production volumes, joining existing organisations of suppliers as well as participation in new organisations, if we can agree about this ahead of time," he added.

Russia is not an OPEC member but ranks alongside Saudi Arabia, de facto leader of the cartel, as the world's largest oil exporter.

His comments came ahead of a meeting of 13-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on December 17 where coordination with non-OPEC oil producers like Russia is expected to be a major issue.

The cartel is widely expected to cut production in an effort to bolster prices that have fallen from record highs above USD 147 in July.

OPEC, which pumps 40 per cent of world crude, has called on non-members to play a role in reducing output to stem the sharp slide in crude prices of the last five months.