THEY ALL DESERVE EACH OTHER: How Iran, Russia Could Derail Oil-Production Deal.

Iran and Russia have emerged as potentially deal-breaking obstacles to cuts in global oil production as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries engages in a last-minute blitz of diplomacy ahead of a meeting on Wednesday.

OPEC agreed in September to trim production to reduce a global oversupply of oil but left the details of who cuts how much to Wednesday’s meeting in Vienna. The gathering comes two years after OPEC decided to step aside and let prices fall, as the market plummeted to historic lows that ushered in a period of cheap prices for consumers.

Russia, which isn’t part of OPEC, said last week it was willing to hold its production steady and forego output increases next year but stopped short of agreeing to cut its output, which is the highest of any country. Iran said on Saturday it was negotiating an exemption from cutting its output, the third-highest in the 14-nation OPEC cartel behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of kleptocratic petrostates.