Russia criticises OPEC decision to maintain current oil production quota

Russia has criticized the decision taken on Thursday by oil producing nations' bloc OPEC not to reduce their current oil production quotas, saying that the problem of decreasing prices will remain.
This means that the problem of excessive supply on the global oil market will not have a quick solution, Finance Ministry official Maxim Oreshkin told Russian news agency, Tass.
"We have been witnessing in the recent days that OPEC's uncertainty in issues of limiting production has led to more negative pressure on oil quotations," he was quoted as saying.
In such conditions "even a scenario of oil prices at USD 80 per barrel looks moderately optimistic for Russia in the next few years," he added.
Earlier, OPEC Secretary General Salem Al-Badri had described current global oil prices (USD 73.70) as "reasonable", suggesting that a drop to the USD 70-mark does not require oil-producing nations to reconsider their budgets.
This point was contested by Russian second largest oil company Lukoil.
"A dramatic situation has emerged on the market, due to which all companies are revising their 2015 budgets, adapting them to new conditions," Vice-President Leonid Fedun was quoted as saying.
Global oil prices fell to under USD 75 from about USD 110 per barrel at the beginning of 2014, while in the meantime the Russian currency, the ruble, has also fallen against the dollar.