The two countries have pledged to set up a working group, along with other measures aimed at supporting a market that has been rocked by an epic price collapse since 2014. Oil prices gained 3% early Monday.
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The agreement was announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China. It should help set the agenda for an informal meeting between OPEC and other producing nations later this month in Algeria.
Closer collaboration between the world's top two exporters of crude oil may stoke hopes that OPEC and other big producers will agree to freeze production. The idea is that an output cap will help put a floor under prices, which have risen from $26 per barrel in February to $46 but are still down more than 50% since 2014
Critics say any freeze would be mostly symbolic -- OPEC is pumping more oil than ever before, and freezing production at extremely high levels wouldn't really help fix an oversupplied market.
Oil prices have bounced before on similar hopes, only for them to be dashed. The most recent failed spectacularly.
The lack of cooperation in the face of a two-year price collapse reflects a schism within OPEC between its biggest member -- Saudi Arabia -- and Iran, which is increasing production after years of international sanctions.
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