Last week Saudi Arabia and Russia, acting as leaders of OPEC Plus, agreed to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day, according to The New York Times.

The cut marked their first large production cut in more than two years and comes as the United States and Europe are trying to choke off the revenue Russia brings in from the sale of crude oil in an effort to punish it for its aggression in Ukraine.

The 2-million-barrels-per-day cut represents about 2% of global oil production.

At a news conference after the meeting, the Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said OPEC Plus was acting in response to signs of a downturn in the world economy that might cause demand for oil to weaken and prices to fall.

Learn more: The New York Times > In Rebuke to West, OPEC and Russia Aim to Raise Oil Prices With Big Supply Cut