Gazprom Site in Siberia

February 01, 2007

Russia is considering forming a natural gas cartel, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, rejecting Western criticism of Moscow's reliability as an energy supplier and defending his record on democracy. Addressing an annual Kremlin press conference, Putin said that Russia, which holds a third of the world's natural gas reserves, could join Iran and other major producers in an organisation similar to the oil cartel OPEC. This feature report, orignally filed 31/12/07, looks at the operations in Siberia of Russian engery giant Gazprom. (c) 2006 AFP