Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said on Wednesday that the OPEC+ group (composed of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting States and other major producers) must reduce the gap between their production targets and current production, Reuters reports.

“There is a significant difference between the targets set by the OPEC+ group in terms of the level of production and what is happening at the moment,” Birol told a conference in Riyadh.

“It will be important for the OPEC+ group to close this gap and we hope they will supply more crude oil to the market,” the IEA chief added.

The latest report from the International Energy Agency shows that in January the gap between target and production widened to 900,000 barrels per day (bpd).

UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Monday that tensions between Russia and the West were the main cause of rising oil prices, according to Agerpres.

The OPEC+ group agreed this month to maintain a moderate increase in crude oil production in March to stabilize rising oil prices.

The group has received calls from the United States, India and other states to pump more after the economies have recovered from the pandemic. The price of a barrel of Brent oil has exceeded $90 amid tensions in Europe and the Middle East.