Secretary-general comments after meeting Iraqi oil minister Minister Al-Luaibi ‘optimistic’ nations can reach output deal OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said the 14-nation group is facing its toughest challenge as members debate oil-production cuts needed to balance the market. “OPEC has gone through good times and conditions for more than half a century and hard ones too, and the current stage is the hardest one,” Barkindo said during a visit to Baghdad in remarks distributed by Iraq’s Oil Ministry. OPEC is working hard on a solution to stabilize the market, he said after meeting Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi for talks. Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, threw an obstacle in OPEC’s path toward a production-cuts deal this weekend when it balked at joining efforts to trim output. The country should be exempted from curtailing supply because it’s embroiled in a war with Islamic militants, Al-Luaibi […]