There was one significant part of last year’s OPEC deal that was absent, and it may prove to be its undoing. Just weeks into the deal and days from a first inspection, there are rumours not everyone is playing by the rules. On the face of it, reports are positive. Output fell in December from a record high, the result of planned cuts and forced cuts- Nigeria was not able to export any Forcados crude after a pipeline was attacked. However, several reports raise concerns about Iraq reneging on the deal, with the Wall Street Journal talking of ‘an unexpected twist’: “instead of cutting its crude production by 4 percent as promised … Iraq instead plans to increase crude oil exports in January.” Investors.com quotes Omar Al-Ubaydli from George Mason University who believes that it’ll be the first to cheat as “Baghdad needs oil revenue to continue fighting the […]