Russia Medvedev: Oil at $60-70/bbl is "fair" price

By Toni Vorobyova MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev, who rules the world's second biggest oil exporter Russia, says an oil price of $60-70 a barrel is justified and recent recovery in crude was partly driven by improving economic fundamentals. Oil hit a record of more than $147 in July last year but then lost two-thirds of its value in the second half of 2008, tipping Russia's $1.7 trillion economy into the first recession in a decade. The recovery of the price of Urals blend oil, which traded at $66.68 on Wednesday, has raised expectations that Russia could better cope with the strains of the crisis. "The prices that we have now, somewhere in the region of $60-70 (a barrel) ... now seems like a fairly just price," Medvedev told U.S. television station CNBC, according to a text of the interview provided by the Kremlin on Wednesday. Russia is no longer a welcome guest of OPEC after boosting its production to levels far above those pumped by the group's biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, and snatching away market share. "I would like to believe that the changes in oil prices reflect some fundamental trends, which are forming in the global economy," Medvedev said. "At any rate, some of the processes which are taking place in our country put me in a cautiously optimistic mood," he said. Recent data suggests the Russian slowdown may be near the bottom, with manufacturing and services PMIs at 7-month highs and the number of officially registered unemployed falling in June. But senior businessmen say privately that the economy will remain in the doldrums for some time and have warned of a growing problem with non-performing loans at major banks. "We need to work on a strategy for getting out of the crisis," Medvedev said. "I would of course like the exit (from the crisis) to be rather fast -- like a V model." (Editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: RUSSIA CRUDE/ ([e-mail]; Tel: [phone], Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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