OPEC plans Moscow oil meeting

OPEC plans Moscow oil meeting

LONDON: Oil cartel OPEC will send a high level delegation to
Moscow in early March to lobby the world's number two oil
exporter to prolong a curb on its exports, an OPEC official said
on Monday.

OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez and OPEC President
Rilwanu Lukman plan to meet Russian Prime Minister Mikhail
Kasyanov on Mar. 3-5, he said.

"We are trying to win the support of Russian oil companies for
an extension to the cuts beyond the first quarter," the OPEC
official said, asking not to be named.

Russia, which ranks second in world oil exports to Saudi
Arabia, agreed to restrict crude sales for three months from Jan.
1. It was one of five non-OPEC countries to cooperate with OPEC
as it reduced supply for a fourth time in a year to prop up
sagging prices. -- Reuters