The announcement came after a closed-door meeting in Doha on February 16 between OPEC powerbroker Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela. Iran was conspicuously absent from the talks and has repeatedly said that it will revive its production and exports after the lifting of sanctions against its oil industry in January.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela have said that they would not increase crude-oil output above January’s levels as long as other major oil producers followed suit. This comes as the first coordinated move to wrestle with growing oversupply of crude oil and to boost oil prices from their lowest in years.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has been quoted by Reuters as saying, “The reason we agreed to a potential freeze of production is simple: it is the beginning of a process which we will assess in the next few months and decide if we need other steps to stabilize and improve the market.”

“We don’t want significant gyrations in prices, we don’t want reduction in supply, we want to meet demand, we want a stable oil price. We have to take a step at a time,” he added.