The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday that non-OPEC oil producers had taken advantage of the reduction in output undertaken by the group and called on them to cooperate.
"We must stress once again that it is not only OPEC that should be taking measures to balance the market," such as reducing production, said Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos in an address ahead of Tuesday's OPEC meeting in Luanda.
"All OPEC and non-OPEC producers should be involved in this process," he added. "It is very hard on our member countries when they make sacrifices to cut back on output for the common good, only to find that other producers are stepping in to fill the gap."
Although the OPEC president didn't name Russia, Moscow was ramping up output in 2009 at a time when OPEC was implementing 4.2 million barrels a day of production cuts.