Inside the "Whatever It Takes" Deal That Jolted Oil Prices

Saudi Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih emerged from the OPEC meeting room on Saturday evening having endured months of secret petro-diplomacy, late-night phone calls and, a few times, disagreements that almost saw talks collapse. But he was still smiling.

Determined to end a two-year oil market slump, Al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak had just brokered the first global petroleum-cuts deal in 15 years. It involved roughly 60 percent of the world’s oil production, from tiny Brunei and Equatorial Guinea to OPEC giants Iran and Iraq.