MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia does not expect the outcome of the upcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members with oil producers not forming part of the cartel to trigger oil price hike, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.
"I want to say that we don't expect any changes in the price in spite of the negotiations which are being conducted currently with oil-extracting nations," Siluanov told the US CNBC broadcaster Thursday.
"Our economic plans are correlated in relation to the current oil price — about $40 a barrel. That is why we see that in the conditions of the slowing down of world economic growth rates, the accumulation of oil reserves by producers, there are no serious grounds for talking about increasing oil prices. We see that we will have to work within the conditions where oil prices fluctuate around $40 a barrel," the official pointed out.
At least 17 major oil producing countries are scheduled to meet in the Qatari capital of Doha on Sunday, April 17, to discuss freezing production at January levels to offset oversupplies and steady rapidly declining prices.
