Iran's great opening
Iran's risks lie above the ground. Below it, a wealth of opportunity awaits careful investors
Iran's oil and gas upstream is a veritable Aladdin's cave of treasures. Like all fairy tales, of course, it comes with villains, both inside and out, and like many oil-rich peers, it has fallen well short of realising its potential. On official figures, Iran has the world's largest gas reserves, 1,183 trillion cubic feet, and, at 158.4bn barrels, the second-largest conventional oil reserves behind only Saudi Arabia (even if Canada's and Venezuela's extra-heavy oil takes them ahead). Even if these figures, particularly the oil, are somewhat exaggerated, they suggest Iran could be the largest holder of hydrocarbons on the planet. But production, though large, is not commensurate with reserves.

Also in this section
14 March 2025
Gas production slumped to an eight-year low in 2024, but new discoveries and partnership with Cyprus paint a more positive outlook
13 March 2025
Gas will become a more important part of the energy mix longer-term, raising the alarm for much-need investment as supply struggles to keep up with demand
13 March 2025
The spectre of Saudi Arabia’s 2020 market share strategy haunts a suffering OPEC+ as Trump upends the energy world
12 March 2025
Petronas-Eni eyes joint venture to prioritise key gas developments, with huge opportunities for growth in Indonesia and a steady Malaysia portfolio