London/Beirut — As the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) gathers in Vienna in November to consider cutting its oil output, a lower profile event in Baghdad on the same day will signal Iraq’s longer term ambition to do precisely the opposite. November 30 is both the date when Opec ministers meet in the Austrian capital and the deadline set by Iraqi oil minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi for international firms to submit bids to help it develop 12 "small-and medium-sized" oil fields. Crude output in Iraq, Opec’s second largest producer, is rising dramatically despite corruption, poor infrastructure and the fight against Islamic State (IS). This is complicating Opec’s efforts to revive prices by making its first output cut since the 2008 global financial crisis. Opec ministers are supposed to decide in Vienna which member states will make the cuts under an outline agreement struck in September. Iraq says it will not reduce output because it needs oil money to combat IS...
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