See-saw oil prices fell sharply again yesterday after Russia delayed a decision on whether to join the OPEC cartel in a global oil supply cut next year.

Having jumped over a dollar per barrel a day earlier on expectations of a major output cut by Russia, London futures for Brent Blend crude oil dropped 65 cents, or 3 per cent, to close at $19.25 (€21.93) per barrel.

A Russian official said the government wanted more talks next month before deciding on whether to meet demands by the powerful OPEC cartel for a big contribution to global supply curbs from January 1st.

Without Russia's contribution, Arab-dominated OPEC has said it will not act to stem a growing over-supply of crude oil that threatens to trigger a price crash of historic proportions.

After a meeting of private oil companies in Moscow, the official also said Russia would trim output by just 0.7 per cent, or 50,000 barrels per day (bpd), in the fourth quarter of this year, although only deliveries for December are left.

"Russia is throwing OPEC scraps, and OPEC is looking for scraps to justify the cuts it will have to make in January," Mr Leo Drollas of London's Centre for Global Energy Studies said. "Speculators are looking for any hint that OPEC will actually cut, but OPEC might not be happy with this," he added.

OPEC secretary-general Mr Ali Rodriguez welcomed commitments by Russia and other non-OPEC exporters to cooperate, but stopped short of saying that they were enough to trigger a global reduction of two million barrels per day. Analysts believe Moscow needs to agree a 200,000 bpd reduction from January 1st for a deal to go ahead.

There are deep divisions in the former Soviet republic about intervening in the oil industry, which attracts huge investments.