Opec secretary-general Abdalla Salem el-Badri has said the organisation is seeking a more active dialogue with the US, among other non-Opec states.

El-Badri stressed the importance of cooperation between the oil producers group and non-Opec states to stop the downward spiral oil prices have been in since mid-2014, where they have lost about three-quarters of their values, down to new 12-year lows of about $30 a barrel.

“The first step is to freeze the production. Maybe if this is successful we can take other steps in the future. I think this is a first step to see what we can achieve,” El-Badri said.

Speaking at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston in the US, El-Badri described the current cycle as “nasty” and stated Opec was not “expecting” the vast plunge in oil prices.

Highlighting concerns of oversupply, El-Badri later remarked that “the United States want to export, but at the same time they import and store”.

“This is something that I don’t know how we’re going to tackle”, he said.

In mid-February, an unprecendented agreement was reached between Opec state Saudi Arabia and non-Opec state, Russia.