WASHINGTON — One of the Barack Obama administration’s top energy officials says it is difficult to predict the impact on the world oil market of recovering Iranian exports in the event of a nuclear deal. Amos Hochstein, special envoy and coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the State Department, told Al-Monitor in a recent interview that the impact of a deal on world oil markets depends on a number of variables that are difficult to predict at this time, including US oil production.
Over the past few years, Iran’s oil exports plunged from 2.5 million barrels a day to about 1 million barrels, in part because of US sanctions that limited exports to key customers. Another factor was a sharp decline in foreign investment in Iranian fields, also a result of US sanctions. Those export and investment restrictions are expected to be substantially eased under a comprehensive nuclear deal. European and Asian oil company executives have been visiting Iran in large numbers.
