Oil price falls as Iraq vows to open taps

Iraq threw an obstacle in Opec’s path toward a final deal to stabilise oil markets when it balked at joining efforts to trim output to prop up crude prices.

The group’s second-largest producer should be exempted from cutting its production because it’s embroiled in a war with Islamic militants, oil minister Jabber Al-Luaibi has said.

Iraq currently produces more than the 4.7 million barrels a day it pumped in September, and output could rise still higher as the government urges international companies to boost production at its fields, he said.