Saudi Arabia will reduce its oil production and exports in March in a bid to perform its role as the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in rebalancing supply of crude in the global market.

The Saudi Energy Ministry has said production by state oil company Saudi Aramco in March will be cut by 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) from February's output. Crude exports will be kept below 7 million b/d in March, despite a shutdown for maintenance of the 400,000 b/d Samref refinery, the ministry told journalists.

"Saudi Arabia remains focused on working down excess oil inventories," a ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The Opec states are cutting output by 1.8 million b/d until the end of 2018 as part of a deal with a group of 11 producers outside the cartel led by Russia to address the supply glut that had caused crude prices to nosedive since December 2014.

Opec and non-Opec producers' high compliance rates to the deal every month since the fourth quarter last year has boosted the much needed impetus to oil prices, which in January topped $71 a barrel for the first time since 2014. However, crude has since slid and hit a 2018 low of $61.76 earlier this week, under pressure from rising US shale output.

Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih however seemed optimistic about the continued success of the international agreement to contain oil supply, saying he was confident cooperation between Opec and its allies outside the cartel will continue to stabilise the market.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who met King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and was part of the press conference in Riyadh, said oil inventories had been declining despite the rise in US production.