Two days before OPEC ministers gathered in Vienna on Nov. 30, Iran’s oil minister passed a message to his boss, President Hassan Rouhani, people familiar with the matter said: Saudi Arabia wouldn’t agree to slash production without a commitment from Russia. Mr. Rouhani called Russian President Vladimir Putin that night, the Kremlin said. By the time OPEC met, Russia, which isn’t part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, had told Saudi Arabia’s energy minister that Moscow would join the cartel’s push to reduce global output . The intervention of the two world leaders underscores how badly all sides wanted a pact that would boost oil prices and their economies . It was also a decisive show by OPEC and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, of the cartel’s demand that all future deals involve coordinated cuts by non-OPEC producers. The reason: the Saudi kingdom isn’t willing to […]