MOSCOW, Feb 6: Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said on Tuesday he opposed any plan to form a natural gas cartel, describing such an idea as the “fruit of an excited imagination.”

”Conjecture about cartels, about gas Opec’s -- this is fruit of an excited imagination,” he told journalists. “There is only one instrument for ensuring global energy security: that is starting a global energy dialogue with the goal of raising energy security and lowering risks.”—AFP