Al-Abadi backs oil-output cap at Algiers gathering next month Premier previously stressed Iraq’s need to boost production Iraq would support a proposal for OPEC and other major oil producers to freeze output at talks in Algeria next month, Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi said in Baghdad. The endorsement marks a slight shift by Al-Abadi, who was quoted by Reuters on Aug. 23 saying that Iraq still hadn’t raised production sufficiently. The country’s deputy oil minister, Fayyad Al-Nima, said the following day that Iraq would support measures to establish fair crude prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold informal talks during an industry conference in Algiers in September, fanning speculation the group could revive an initiative with non-members such as Russia to limit output. A previous attempt collapsed in April amid political tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. “Our opinion is to freeze output to support prices,” Al-Abadi said. […]