ALGIERS, Algeria (Reuters) -- An oil price of $50 per barrel is too low for OPEC producers to invest in production and non-member countries, including Russia, should cut output to help boost prices, OPEC's secretary general said Sunday.
Asked at a news conference during a visit to Algeria about the prospect of further output cuts at OPEC's next meeting on May 28, Abdalla Salem al-Badri said: "It depends on the economic situation, but if we face any problem OPEC will not hesitate to take any further decision to stabilize the market."
He said there were still 722,000 barrels of oil on the market which needed to be removed if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- whose members pump more than a third of the world's oil -- is to reach full compliance with output cuts agreed at a previous meeting.
However, he said OPEC was not happy with the current oil price, which closed at about $51 per barrel in trading in New York on Friday, almost two-thirds down on the level crude was trading at about nine months ago.
"We (OPEC) are not satisfied with the current price ... A price at $50 is insufficient for oil investment. I think more than $70 would boost investment," al-Badri said.
He said the fall in oil prices has had a "big impact" on OPEC members' investments in sustaining production levels, with 35 out of a total of 165 projects put on hold until 2013.
Russia, the second-biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, is not an OPEC member and has resisted calls from the organization to join in the cuts.
The OPEC secretary general said he hoped non-OPEC producers will reduce their output to help stabilize the market.
"We urge Russia to contribute to bringing prices to an acceptable level," al-Badri said. 
