Russia said on Wednesday it was prepared to push oil production to new historic highs, just days after a global deal to freeze output levels collapsed and Saudi Arabia threatened to flood markets with more crude. OPEC member Venezuela predicted oil prices could crash in the next few weeks if producers failed to resume dialogue as the specter of oversupply loomed once more. Venezuela and top non-OPEC producer Russia had been the main proponents of the output freeze deal, in the making since February, until it collapsed on Sunday after Riyadh said it would not sign unless Iran took part. The deal had been meant to help the market rebalance by removing a large chunk of oversupply and a stockpile glut. But Saudi Arabia said it could jack up output instead – by as much as 2 million barrels per day (bpd) to over 12 million, which would allow […]