Published December 31st, 2006 by Future Atlas
Iran without oil
Iran may soon be unable to export oil due to declining production, a scholar writes in PNAS.
Economic geographer Roger Stern asserts that Iranian oil exports could fall rapidly in the next few years, possibly even coming to a halt by 2015, due to production difficulties brought on by lack of domestic and foreign investment.
Stern suggests two implications:
- Iran might actually need the nuclear energy program it is pursuing.
- In a few years, Iran will be much more vulnerable to sanctions.
susette Says
Wouldn’t Chaves help Iran out of this predicament?
Jan 23rd, 2007 at 10:58 am
Future Atlas Says
Interesting idea, but Venezuela could not help at the scale necessary — and Chavez’s ability to carry out petrodiplomacy will last only as long as high oil prices and strong domestic production; the latter is more in doubt now that he is headed on a more rigorously socialist course.
Jan 28th, 2007 at 12:37 pm