Putin's first indication that Russia could participate in a gas exporter's group will be deeply worrying to the European Union, which takes about a quarter of its supplies from Russia and has been keen to diversify its sources.
"A gas Opec is an interesting idea. We will think about it," Putin said at his annual news conference in the Kremlin.
Russia's massive gas resources - nearly 30 per cent of known world reserves and 20pc of world gas production - have raised fears in the West that it may gain further leverage over energy consumers by co-ordinating supplies with other gas-rich nations such as Iran and Algeria.
Meanwhile, Putin hailed Russia's strong economic growth and said it could not have been achieved without a consolidation of power in the Kremlin's hands.
But he added that although Russia's GDP reached $1 trillion last year, the top priority was still to raise living standards.
Putin said yesterday that Russia and Ukraine had revived an idea to set up a joint venture to manage Ukraine's gas transit pipelines and added Kiev also wanted access to Russian gas fields.
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