* Riyadh, others seek new cuts of 1.0-1.5 mln bpd
* Russia only wants to extend current cuts - sources
* Novak heads back to Moscow for consultations - sources
* Gulf states need higher oil price to balance budgets
(Adds Saudi remark to reporters)
By Rania El Gamal, Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova
VIENNA, March 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and other OPEC
members struggled on Wednesday to win support from Russia to
join them in additional oil output cuts in a bid to prop up
prices which have tumbled by a fifth this year because of the
coronavirus outbreak.
A panel of several ministers from OPEC, Russia and other
producers failed to clinch a preliminary agreement for
additional cuts, OPEC sources said.
At the panel meeting in Vienna, the sources said Russia
proposed keeping existing cuts by the group known as OPEC+ until
the end of the second quarter.
Saudi Arabia wants extra cuts of 1 million to 1.5 million
barrels per day (bpd) for the second quarter while keeping
existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd in place until the end of 2020.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who had held talks
with his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman earlier
on Wednesday, left the meeting of the panel, known as the Joint
Ministerial Monitoring Committee, after three hours of talks.
Sources said Novak went to Moscow for more consultations and
would return for the full OPEC+ meeting on Friday, while OPEC
will hold its full ministerial meeting on Thursday.
"OPEC hopes for a cut bigger than 1 million but the
challenge is still Russia," one OPEC source said.
When asked whether Wednesday's panel made a recommendation,
the Saudi minister responded to reporters: "I want to keep you
in suspense."
The Russian minister made no public statement before heading
back to Moscow.
The talks in Vienna were following a familiar pattern to
previous meetings. In the past, Moscow had initially been
hesitant before ultimately agreeing to joint cuts with OPEC.
BURDEN OF CUTS
Benchmark Brent oil prices LCOc1 , which had been up 2%
earlier on Wednesday, were trading down 1% near $51 a barrel
later in the day on news Russia was still resisting new steps.
At those levels, oil prices are too low for many OPEC states
to balance their budgets, although Russian President Vladimir
Putin has said the level was acceptable for Moscow. Moscow has said it is worried by the rise of shale oil in
the United States, which is not part of OPEC. U.S. producers
have boosted output at the expense of the group.
Sources had told Reuters earlier this month that OPEC could
agree deeper cuts even without Russia. But two OPEC sources said Riyadh did not want to carry most
of the burden of cuts alone and was pressing Moscow to join in
with a proper contribution.
"Cuts will need to at least be towards the top end of the
range, as we see further downward revisions in demand growth as
Covid-19 spreads," Warren Patterson from ING said in a note.
Existing cuts have not been enough to counter the impact of
the coronavirus on China, the world's biggest oil importer, and
on the global economy. Factories have been disrupted, fewer
people are travelling and other business has slowed, driving
down oil demand.
"Whatever action OPEC ultimately takes seems unlikely to
produce the desired effect of rebalancing the market and
substantially raising prices. Rather, the strategy today may be
one of attempting to stem further bloodletting and hope demand
recovery can be achieved later in the year," analysts from the
Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report.
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BREAKINGVIEWS-OPEC readies knife for oil demand-slump gunfight
hugs, OPEC officials greet with their feet amid virus
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