The growing pain of plunging oil prices has galvanized Saudi Arabia to look beyond its rivalry with Russia and Iran over regional conflicts and pursue cooperation on production, analysts say.

But there are doubts about whether it will last because mutual suspicions remain deep and the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdoms are loath to cede market share to Shiite Iran as it emerges from years of sanctions.

Saudi Arabia is "not prepared" to cut oil production, its foreign minister said on Thursday, after the top exporter agreed with Russia to freeze output if major rivals follow.

"If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production that may have an impact on the market but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production," Adel al-Jubeir told AFP.

Niger, which holds elections on Sunday, is an arid uranium-rich nation south of the Sahara that faces repeated famines.

President Mahamadou Issoufou, who was elected in 2011, is running for a fresh mandate against 14 candidates.

The OECD on Thursday cut its 2016 economic growth forecast to 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent owing to disappointing data, sluggish demand, weak investment and a high risk of financial instability.

"Financial instability risks are substantial," the 34-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its latest interim outlook, urging a strong collective response to combat sagging global growth, which it predicts will not surpass 2015's already pallid showing.

Shares in Air France-KLM soared Thursday after the group posted its first annual operating profit since 2008 on reduced costs, notably due to lower fuel prices.

The stock price of Europe's largest carrier was up 9.4 percent to 8.15 euros two hours into trading, as the carrier unveiled net 2015 profits of 118 million euros ($131 million).

The Malaysian ringgit led a rally in emerging market currencies Thursday as a surge in oil prices injected traders with confidence while minutes from the Federal Reserve suggested it will not hike interest rates for some time.

Crude, which last week flirted with 13-year lows, extended a surge that began Friday as dealers grow hopeful of an easing to the overproduction and supply glut that has hammered the commodity for a year and a half.

Iran's oil minister started talks Wednesday with his Iraqi, Venezuelan and Qatari counterparts as investors watched whether Tehran would follow Saudi Arabia and Russia's pact to freeze output.

Iran returned to the global oil market just weeks ago after sanctions on its energy and banking sector were lifted upon implementation of a landmark deal on its nuclear program with world powers.

Iranian banks have started to be reconnected to the international payments system SWIFT, allowing the resumption of foreign transfers after Tehran's nuclear agreement with world powers, officials said Wednesday.

The move follows the lifting of sanctions under the deal last month, and comes after the Central Bank of Iran and SWIFT took the necessary steps to restore access.

A state-backed "bad bank" that would take over non-performing loans from a country's banks, as has been agreed for Italy, could also be an option for other countries, the head of Europe's new banking resolution authority said on Wednesday.

"Italy has come up with a constrution for a bad bank that uses a market solution without state aid," the head of the Single Resolution Board, Elke Koenig, told the business daily Handelsblatt in an interview.

Fuel subsidy reforms by Gulf states will help reduce pressure on budgets but are not enough to offset deficits resulting from low oil prices, ratings agency Moody's said.

Savings from increased fuel prices in the six Gulf nations will average 0.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- around $7 billion -- this year against an estimated deficit of 12.4 percent of GDP, it said.