New divides over oil prices as Opec heads for crunch meeting

Why Saudi Arabia is pushing for a big production hike, while Iran and Venezuela oppose one

The world’s major oil-producing countries are under pressure from the US, China and Russia to pump more crude and bring down oil prices.

But Opec’s crunch meeting in Vienna on Friday finds the oil cartel divided after nearly two years of unity over production curbs, which were due to run until the year’s end.