Russia plans autumn OPEC meeting in Moscow

Russia has proposed a meeting with OPEC member countries in Moscow in the autumn, Russian news agencies quoted Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko as saying on Thursday.

"OPEC is obviously interested in maintaining, at a minimum, the same level of contact that we had last year," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Shmatko as saying after a government meeting.

The minister said in June that Russia had proposed a joint seminar with OPEC, to be held either in Moscow or Vienna. No agreement has since been struck. [ID:nLA579831]

OPEC's Vienna headquarters could not immediately be reached for comment.

Russia, the biggest oil producer outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has been reluctant to meet OPEC requests to pump less oil to prop up crude prices.

It appeared to move closer to the body when a barrel of oil cost $40 late last year. Russia's Urals <URL-E> crude export blend traded above $70 a barrel on Thursday.