KSA, Russia, Qatar, Venezuela agree to freeze oil output

Top global oil exporters including Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to freeze output to tackle a global glut but said the deal was contingent on other producers, with Iran absent from the meeting and planning to ramp up shipments.

The Saudi, Russian, Qatari and Venezuelan oil ministers visited Doha for a previously undisclosed meeting - their highest-level discussion in months on joint action to help prices recover from their lowest in more than a decade.

The Saudi minister, Ali al-Naimi, said freezing production at January levels was an adequate measure and new steps to stabilise the market could be considered in the next few months.

He said he hoped other producers would adopt the proposal, while Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said more talks would take place with Iran and Iraq on Wednesday.