The price of crude shot higher this morning after Opec ministers signalled a new mood of compromise as a crunch meeting of the cartel got underway in Vienna. Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, told journalists that the group was edging towards an agreement to curb output from the 14 member states, which together pump one third of the world’s oil. In comments that could be interpreted as a softening of Riyadh’s hardline position, Mr al-Falih said that it would be acceptable for Iran to freeze its oil output at pre-sanction levels. Mr al-Falih had previously rejected Iranian calls for an exemption from a preliminary agreement by Opec, struck in September, to trim output by about 1 million barrels per day. The price of a…

Source: The Times November 30, 2016 12:21 UTC