The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) efforts to bring non-member countries such as Russia on aboard in cutting output have made little progress, officials say, and even the chance of more Iranian exports hitting prices if sanctions end is unlikely to boost cooperation.

Since the oil price collapse, top Opec exporter Saudi Arabia has said it wanted non-Opec producers to cooperate with the group. But a plan for a meeting between the two sides this month appears to have been shelved.

“At first we have been planning to meet in March, but so far no-one has come forward with such an initiative. The situation has calmed down a bit,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Reuters.

Novak was part of a Russian delegation that held talks with Opec ministers before Opec’s November meeting. But no supply cut deal was reached then, Opec refused to act alone and Brent crude prices fell, reaching a near six-year low close to $45 in January.

The Opec’s position, according to a delegate from a Gulf producer, remains that it might consider cutting output if outside producers were willing to contribute.

“If big non-Opec producers are willing to cooperate effectively, not only by saying but effectively, to make plans to decrease production, here Opec may take a decision,” the delegate said. Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi, who in 1998-1999 helped organise Opec and non-Opec production cuts that revived prices from a slump to $10, has again been seeking more co-operation among exporters.