Russia says regulation of oil price impossible

L'AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered a reality check to G8 leaders seeking to reduce oil market volatility, saying it was impossible to regulate prices and that $70-80 a barrel was a good range.

France and Britain have spearheaded efforts to curb oil price volatility, arguing that sharp fluctuations contributed to economic instability. A G8 statement on Wednesday called for reduced volatility in energy markets but did not mention ranges.

Medvedev's spokeswoman said other leaders at a summit of the Group of Eight most industrialized nations had agreed that $70-80 was a fair price -- a statement British Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied.

"G8 leaders generally agreed in their remarks," spokeswoman Natalya Timakova told reporters at a summit in Italy of leaders from the Group of Eight major industrial nations.

"In the course of the morning session President Medvedev said administrative regulation of oil prices is impossible."

But when asked about the discussion on oil prices, Britain's Brown said: "We didn't discuss a specific figure and we didn't discuss in detail any price range ... There's no agreement on ranges."

The leaders of France and Britain said in a joint column in Wednesday's edition of the Wall Street Journal that there should be a range for crude oil that is "compatible with fundamentals," arguing sharp fluctuations had worsened the economic crisis.

On Monday, Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said they would publish a joint position on oil price volatility soon as part of tougher global governance.

The United States is also looking at ways of better regulating energy and commodity trading by restricting holdings of big players. The top regulator of U.S. futures markets will hold hearings in the next few weeks on the subject, it said on Tuesday.

Brown has said that producer and consumer countries should study the oil market mechanisms that cause price swings and determine whether there is any undue speculation.

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(Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov and Matt Faloon; writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Janet McBride)