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A record cut in oil output of two million barrels a day has been announced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
The cut, which is Opec's largest ever, was agreed on Wednesday following a meeting of the organization's ministers in the Algerian city of Oran.
The reduction in output will mean that Opec is taking 4.2 million barrels of oil out of the global market per day compared to September levels.
There had also been earlier speculation the cut could be combined with a reduction of 600,000 barrels a day by non-Opec members Russia and Azerbaijan.
Ali al-Nuaimi, the Saudi oil minister, said earlier on Wednesday: "There is a consensus on a cut of two million barrels a day."
The Opec meeting comes as the price of oil is sliding, leaving it 70 per cent lower than the $147 a barrel high back in July.
Oil demand has dwindled in recession-hit industrialized nations and the cut had been endorsed by many of the group before the meeting, in an attempt to stabilize the price.
Russia pledge
Russia, the world's biggest non-Opec exporter, has suggested it could contribute to the curbs, but Mexico has avoided making any commitments.
Russia sent its highest-ranking delegation ever to the meeting, including the heads of its five top oil companies.
An overall reduction of 2.6 million barrels per day would remove about three per cent of the world's daily output.
Oil cut is 'necessary'
Chakib Khelil, Opec's president, has said that the $75 a barrel price target set by King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's monarch, was a "fair price".
Saadallah al-Fathi, an oil analyst based in Dubai, told Al Jazeera: "Raising oil prices will impact a lot of people in the oil-producing countries and make it possible for them to continue with their development and with their investment in the oil industry to provide more oil for the world in the future.
"At the same time they have to be cognizant of the state of the economy in the world, and they have to help the world in getting out of the recession."
Asked if he thought $75 a barrel was a fair price for oil, he said: "If the price of oil reached $147 per barrel, I think $75 per barrel seems to be a fair price."
'Difficult and costly'
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar's oil and energy minister, said that Opec's aim is to balance the demand with the supply.
"If you offer oil and no one is buying it what should you do with it? The oil industry is very difficult and very costly," he said.
He blamed high oil prices at the pump on mainly Western governments, saying they were not passing on the lower prices to consumers.
"Oil is still very cheap now ... but consumers in Europe and other parts of the world are still paying high prices of oil in gas stations because of the tax. Tax in Europe and in other parts of the world is over 85 per cent."
Opec has cut output twice since September without halting the decline in oil prices which has slashed revenues for the group's members and raised fears of a future supply crunch as investors pull money from costly exploration and production projects.
PHOTO CAPTION
Chakib Khelil, Opec's president.
Al-Jazeera
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