Russia’s energy minister said his country hasn’t decided to cut oil production as he prepares to meet with OPEC ministers to discuss the crude market. Russia is already helping to balance the oil market by keeping output steady, Alexander Novak said today in an interview with state TV channel Rossiya 24. There’s only a small chance the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to reduce output at a meeting this week, he said. “We are not Saudi Arabia, which has the ability to reduce production quickly, ramp up quickly,” Novak said. It’s open question whether an agreement would affect prices, he said. His comments run counter to a report in Kommersant newspaper today that Russia may cut production by 300,000 barrels a day next year to support OPEC reductions of more than 1 million barrels. The group is considering action to boost prices after oil plunged more than $30 a barrel since July. Novak will travel to Vienna tomorrow together with Igor Sechin, head of Russia’s largest oil producer,OAO Rosneft (ROSN), to meet OPEC ministers before the group’s Nov. 27 meeting. “Russia will produce as much oil as it can, any cuts are possible only because of natural reasons, not on purpose to influence the market,” said Alexander Kornilov, an Alfa Bank energy analyst in Moscow. “Any statement beyond this is bravado.” Russia plans to maintain its oil production at 505 million (about 10 million barrels a day) to 520 million tons a year, already a contribution to stabilizing world prices, Novak said. The country will produce about 525 million tons this year, according to the ministry. bloomberg