Oil producers would love to see higher prices, but OPEC so far has been unable to cut output. In September, OPEC agreed to have a committee look at potentially cutting production to 32.5 million to 33 million barrels a day, shaving off 700,000 barrels a day — some 2 percent of overall production.

OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil, meets on Nov. 30 in Vienna to try to implement its first cuts in eight years after agreeing to trim output in Algiers at the end of September. Two years ago Saudi Arabia faced an impasse, Al-Naimi said, commenting on OPEC’s decision to pump without limits.

The economic consequences of cheap oil have been severe for Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is burning through foreign-exchange reserves, government contractors have gone unpaid, and civil servants, who make up two-thirds of the labor force, will get no bonus this year. The country’s fiscal deficit is more than 10 percent of gross domestic product, the highest ratio of any Group of 20 nation. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Saudi economic growth will slow to about 1 percent next year, the worst since 2009. A few banks predict a recession.

Many nations are willing to join OPEC in cutting production to secure a continued improvement in oil prices, said Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy and Industry Khalid Al-Falih.

World oil demand in 2016 is seen increasing by 1.24 mb/d to average 94.40 mb/d. Positive revisions were primarily a result of higher-than-expected demand in the Other Asia region, while downward revisions were a result of lower-than-expected performance from OECD America. In 2017, world oil demand is anticipated to rise by 1.15 mb/d, to average 95.56 mb/d.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut between 200,000 barrels a day and 700,000 barrels a day of their output to reduce a global oil glut. The 14-nation oil-producing group controls over a third of the world’s oil production, but said it also wanted non-OPEC producers to join the effort to curb output.

"OPEC made an exceptional decision today ... After two and a half years, OPEC reached consensus to manage the market," said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, who had repeatedly clashed with Saudi Arabia during previous meetings.

While Tehran wants to set its production target at about 4.2 million barrels per day, Riyadh last week asked its regional rival to freeze its output at 3.6 million barrels per day in return for a production cut.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that oil services company Weatherford International has agreed to pay a $140 million penalty to settle charges that it inflated earnings by using deceptive income tax accounting. Two of the company’s senior accounting executives at the time have agreed to settle charges that they were behind the scheme.

“We need a gentle adjustment to reassure the market,” Mr. Falih said at a briefing where he was flanked by his Russian counterpart, Alexander Novak.