Growth hiatus

The Opec deal lets Iran increase output. It’s unlikely to breach that limit … for now

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died on 8 January at the age of 82, was frustrated by US sanctions when he tried to entice ConocoPhillips to his country. Now the administration of his successor and protégé, Hassan Rouhani, is treading a tricky path between new politics abroad, elections at home, sanctions, foreign oil companies and Opec. Iran has long had the goal of raising oil production significantly, in line with its reserves and its historical importance within Opec. For many years the group's clear second-largest producer, it has now fallen well behind Iraq into third place. Its oil production target is 5.8m b/d by 2021, of which about 4.8m b/d would be crude oil. This s