Kuwait/London/Moscow — Oil cartel Opec officials meeting in Vienna raced to salvage an oil-production deal on Wednesday after Iran said it was likely to reject any agreement that raised output from the group. With two days before Opec ministers formally meet in Vienna to decide on policy, delegates were in closed-door talks to find a way to boost production and ease consumer anxiety about high oil prices. Making his first comments after arriving in Vienna, Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said "of course" there’ll be a deal this week. Iran publicly rejected the idea of a formal output increase late on Tuesday, although the following day the country’s oil minister hinted at one possible route to an agreement. Opec has a long tradition of last-minute deals, often after phone calls between heads of state. One way of "resolving the situation" would be for all participants in the oil-production cuts to stop exceeding their targets, meaning countries that have been making additional cur...
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