President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Qatari Energy and Industry Minister Mohammed Saleh Abdulla Al Sada on Sunday stressed the need to strengthen interaction between the oil producing states.

"In the future [we] will need enhanced interaction to foster mutual understanding between the OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing states, [we] need to intensify the contacts," Al Sada said at a press conference in Riyadh, following the meeting with his counterparts from the Gulf states.

Earlier in the day, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak held a working dinner with the energy ministers of the six member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in the framework of his official visit to Saudi Arabia.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, chaired by Qatar, comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and aims at fostering economic and military cooperation between the Middle East states. Riyadh hosts the GCC headquarters.

On September 28, OPEC member states agreed on cutting its oil production for the first time in eight years. The output ceiling was set at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the whole cartel, however, no exact limits for each country have been placed. The OPEC countries are set to finalize the agreement on oil output freeze at the OPEC summit in Vienna on November 30. Other oil producing states, who are not members of OPEC, including Russia, are also expected to uphold the agreement, aimed at stabilizing the oil market.

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