Saudis offer compromise on OPEC production

Saudi Arabia put forward compromise proposals yesterday to make progress in OPEC talks on raising world oil prices, but rivalry between Iran and Iraq threatened an accord, delegates said. They said the new Saudi oil minister, Hisham Nazer proposed that the group trim its combined oil output by about 7.25 percent next year to achieve a target price of $18 a barrel. Oil traders had been hoping for a 10 percent reduction.

The meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has been stalled since Friday over how far it should cut overall OPEC output and by enmity at the conference table between Iran and Iraq over their individual production quotas.