OPEC agreed Wednesday to cut oil production for the first time since 2008, in an effort to boost prices and challenge non-OPEC producers to follow suit.
Iran’s oil minister said the cartel will cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million, or about 1 percent of the world’s global output.
Before Wednesday's meeting in Vienna, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said OPEC would ask non-members to also cut production
Russia, a non-OPEC member, agreed to cut its oil output by 300,000 barrels a day.
OPEC says it would like to see global oil prices between $55 and $60 a barrel - a level it says will help revive oil dependent economies that have suffered from two years of prices that frequently fell to less than $50 a barrel.
The news from OPEC and Russia caused a 10 percent surge in oil prices in New York and an overall boost in energy stocks.
Oil closed up $4.21 Wednesday at $49.44 a barrel.
