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MOSCOW, March 10 (Reuters) - Russia's Energy Ministry will
meet with the country's oil companies on Wednesday to discuss
future cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries, among other issues, two sources familiar
with the plan told Reuters.
The meeting was convened following the collapse of talks
with OPEC and other oil producers last week which spelled the
end of three years of coordinated output cuts aimed at
supporting prices and reducing stockpiles.
The failure to agree on further action triggered a 25%
plunge in oil prices on Monday towards $30 per barrel, a
four-year low.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said curbs on
output should be lifted from April 1 once the current deal
between OPEC and other producers - a grouping known as OPEC+ -
expires.
The meeting may provoke debate about whether to return to
cooperation with OPEC. However, President Vladimir Putin would
still have the last word on how Russia decides to proceed.
Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft ROSN.MM , has been
the most vociferous opponent of the deal, arguing that the
production cuts have allowed the United States, which is not
part of OPEC+, to boost its market share.
Rosneft, headed by Igor Sechin, a close ally of Putin, and
its managers were targeted by sanctions imposed by the United
States for Moscow's role in Ukraine and oil trading with
Venezuela.
Other producers, notably Russia's second-largest oil
producer Lukoil LKOH.MM , have been positive towards
cooperation with OPEC.
"We plan to discuss whether to return to (cooperation with)
OPEC or not," one of the sources said. The Energy Ministry did
not immediately reply to a Reuters request for a comment.
Novak said on Tuesday that Russia had not ruled out further
joint action with OPEC to stabilise the oil market, a stance
later repeated by the Kremlin.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia said it would increase its
crude oil supply to a record high, raising the stakes in its
standoff with Russia and effectively rejecting Moscow's
overtures for new talks.