Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev\'s recent proposal that the Caspian littoral states should create a cartel analogous to OPEC to regulate oil production is not feasible at the present time, Sabit Bagirov, a former president of Azerbaijan\'s state oil company SOCAR, told Interfax on 31 December. Bagirov pointed out that \"the Caspian states have not yet reached a level of oil production that could account for a significant share of the market,\" and that it is \"too early\" for Azerbaijan to make specific commitments on export quotas to any organization. But he added that a coordinated policy will be needed by 2010, assuming that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan attain optimum levels of output by then. Nazarbaev said on 28 December that the Caspian states should establish a counterweight to OPEC \"before it is too late.\" (Interfax)