OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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Since pushing above $50 per barrel, crude has taken a bit of a breather. Nevertheless, at least one chartist thinks oil is heading toward fresh highs. Master technical analyst Louise Yamada says two charts show that crude, still largely trapped in a long-term bear market for more than a year, is targeting new levels around $70.

Oil is testing $70, according to the charts

Iraq threw an obstacle in OPEC’s path toward a final deal to stabilize oil markets when it balked at joining efforts to trim output to prop up crude prices. The group’s second-largest producer should be exempted from cutting production because it’s embroiled in a war with Islamic militants, Oil Minister Jabber Al-Luaibi said Sunday at a news conference in Baghdad. Iraq currently produces more than the 4.7 MMbopd it pumped in September, and output could rise still higher as the government urges international companies to boost production at its fields, he said. The minister disputed Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries figures that peg Iraqi output at less than 4.2 MMbopd.

Iraq balks at joining OPEC cuts, making output deal harder

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wants to invite the U.S. to OPEC’s next meeting, saying the world’s biggest crude producer should be in on talks to stabilize global crude prices. Maduro, whose country holds the globe’s biggest oil reserves, said on Venezuelan state television Friday that he’s pushing for an “alliance" of OPEC and non-OPEC members, including the U.S. and “the most important oil companies in the world."

Give U.S. a seat at OPEC output meeting, Venezuela says

As Russia gets ready for talks on cooperation with OPEC on Monday, it’s using the playbooks of Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to gain leverage. Just days before Energy Minister Alexander Novak heads to Vienna for discussions that could include output curbs, Russian officials emphasized the nation’s ability to keep increasing record output to even loftier heights. They were echoing several other OPEC member that claim the group is underestimating their own production—a strategy that could secure them advantageous terms in any supply deal.

Russia’s rising oil-output forecasts give leverage in OPEC talks