MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - The head of the federal agency for state reserves said Friday that Russia needs to create reserves of crude oil and natural gas that are under state control.
"A political decision should be made on this issue as it will entail major expenses," Alexander Grigoryev said.
He said the state should have oil reserves of at least 5 million metric tons (37.4 million barrels) and that gas reserves should be comparable.
"The state should be able to influence the market with these reserves," Grigoryev said, adding that his agency had already prepared depositories for oil and gas should the idea gain official approval.
Grigoryev also said the agency had reached understanding on gas reserves with Gazprom, but had failed to gain support from oil companies on oil reserves.
