Reaching natural gas production of one billion cubic meters per day (bcm/d) has been one of the three core hydrocarbons resource strategies of Iran since the Islamic Republic began to seriously develop the supergiant South Pars non-associated natural gas field in 1990, alongside producing 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and building out a world-class petrochemicals sector. Over the past week or so, Iran has announced a number of initiatives aimed at increasing gas output from South Pars in order to significantly surpass this 1 bcm/d figure as quickly as possible with the corollary boost in export revenues. -Simon Watkins, Oil Price 9/3/20

One of the three key priorities for Iran - along with completing all of the phases on its supergiant South Pars natural gas field and expanding its value-added petrochemicals sector - is to increase the crude oil production and exports from its West Karoun cluster of giant oil fields. The West Karoun fields together contain at least 67 billion barrels of oil in place and, with an average recovery rate currently of only around 4.5 per cent (compared to over 50 percent at similar oil fields in Saudi Arabia), the potential to dramatically increase Iran's crude oil revenues is enormous. -Simon Watkins, Oil Price 8/27/20

Iran's daily natural gas exports hit a record high of 79 million cubic meters (mcm) during the Iranian calendar month of Tir (June 21-July 21), Head of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC)'s Dispatching Department said. "Iran's gas exports to other countries had never reached 70 million cubic meters per day, but in Tir a new record was set and [the exports] reached 79 million cubic meters per day," Shana quoted Mohammadreza Jolaei as saying. 8/6/20

Iran signed on Monday a US$1.3-billion deal with domestic companies to double the production capacity at the massive Azadegan oilfield, expecting the rise in production to boost its oil revenues by US$1 trillion, Iranian officials said at the signing ceremony. -Oil Price 7/21/20

Iran has slashed crude oil production to its lowest level in four decades as storage tanks and vessels are almost completely full due to a fall in exports and refinery run cuts caused by the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. -Reuters 7/7/20

Qatar's recent decision to go ahead with bold plans for the North Dome, its supergiant non-associated gas reservoir, together with corollary deals to secure massive new liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity in its chief target export market, China, has spurred Iran into moving forward with its own long-stalled LNG plans, according to a senior oil and gas industry figure who works closely with Iran's Petroleum Ministry. -Simon Watkins, Oil Price 6/17/20

Turkey is delaying the completion of repairs to the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline, which was blown up at the end of March, in an apparent attempt both to curry favor with Washington and to pressure Tehran to reduce its prices, according to industry sources. Register Now Flows through the pipeline were halted early on March 31 following an explosion. -S&P Global 5/22/20

A small and tedious-looking announcement of the ratification of a bylaw relating to the issuance of securities appeared on Iranian government-affiliated websites last week and was unsurprisingly ignored by the world's international media but not OilPrice.com. To OilPrice.com the blank statement that Iran's First Vice President, Eshaq Jahangiri, signed off on the issuance of Islamic compliant securities in the calendar year of 1399 means Iran will have access to a massive new stream of capital that it will use to drive forward its long-stalled oil and gas development programme. -Simon Watkins 5/18/20

Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempur Ardebili, is in a coma after suffering a "severe" brain hemorrhage. In a tweet on May 3, the country's Oil Ministry said Ardebili was hospitalized on May 1. It did not provide further details. Ardebili is a key figure in Iran's energy industry and served as the deputy foreign minister and deputy oil minister in the 1980s. 5/5/20

Global demand for oil will fall this year by the most ever due to the economic lockdowns enforced around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. An estimated drop in demand of 9.3 million barrels a day this year is equivalent to a decade's worth of growth. -AP 4/15/20

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has called on the United States and Canada to join non-OPEC oil producers led by Russia to reduce crude production. In a tweet on Tuesday, Namdar Zanganeh said, "Before any meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC there needs to be an agreement on production numbers for any country that will reduce output", adding that the U.S. and Canada need to play a role in determining production cuts. 4/8/20

Aside from becoming the number one petrochemicals powerhouse in the Middle East within the next three years, Iran's priorities in the current U.S. sanctions environment is to increase its production of gas, particularly from the South Pars field, and of oil, particularly from the West Karoun fields. In both cases, this is partly because of the sheer opportunity available in the resources but partly as well because Iran can use the fact that many of these reservoirs are shared with Iraq to operate largely unfettered by such sanctions. -Simon Watkins, Oil Price 2/3/20

Iran's Oil Ministry is investing more than $1.5 billion on completing the national gas grid in the deprived and remote regions bordering Pakistan. Head of the National Iranian Gas Company said on Sunday that works to link up cities and towns in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan to the national gas network had made a significant progress over the past months. 12/23/19

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is offering significant discounts for a planned sell-off of crude and condensates in a local energy bourse as the government tries to use the mechanism to bypass the American sanctions imposed on direct oil exports. An NIOC agent said on Wednesday that the company will start offering price discounts and other favorable conditions to those buying oil and gas condensate, a very light type of oil, at Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX). -Press TV 12/19/19

A new report citing data from the Iranian government shows that almost a fifth of the daily production of gasoline in the country falls into the hands of smugglers who ship the fuel to the neighboring countries. The findings come days after Iran decided to increase the price of gasoline and impose restrictions on the regular delivery of the fuel to the motorists. -Press TV 11/20/19

The latest OPEC monthly report published November 14 says that not only Iran's oil production fell in the first ten months of 2019, but also the price of the most exported type of Iranian oil fell. Iran's oil production in October decreased by 18,000 barrels, reaching 2,146,000 barrels per day. Iran was producing 3.8 million bpd before the United States imposed sanctions in November 2018. -Radio Farda 11/15/19

The Namavaran oil field discovered by Iranian experts has an estimated 53 billion barrels of reserves, Zangeneh said on Monday. Iran's largest oil field contains 65 billion barrels and is located in in Ahvaz. According to Zangeneh, exploration started at the site in 2016, with 31 billion barrels previously discovered. The newly-discovered field adds 22.2 billion barrels to the country's estimated crude reserves. -Press TV 11/11/19

Iran's oil minister said Sunday that China's CNPC has withdrawn from the development of an offshore gas field and that state-owned Petropars will take over the entire project. The South Pars gas field was to be developed jointly by France's Total, China National Petroleum Corporation and Petropars under a $4.8-billion (4.1 billion-euro) deal signed in July 2017. -VOA 10/7/19

Dozens of crewmembers have been rescued after two tankers transporting petroleum products were reportedly attacked and caught fire in the Gulf of Oman. The June 13 incidents come a month after attacks on four tankers off the nearby United Arab Emirates increased tensions between Tehran and Washington and U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf. 6/13/19

The US envoy to Baghdad says Washington has exempted Baghdad from some of its unilateral anti-Iran sanctions, allowing Iraq to continue importing energy from Iran. US charge d'affaires Joey Hood told reporters on Wednesday Baghdad can now buy energy from Iran, a report by Al-Alam news network said. The waiver will allow Iraq to continue buying gas and electricity from Iran. -Press TV 5/23/19

The 24th Iran International, Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show 2019), which kicked off at Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds on Wednesday, is hosting 106 foreign exhibitors from 21 countries, Shana reported. 5/2/19

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to end waivers from sanctions for countries importing Iranian oil threatens to further escalate tensions with Turkey. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed Washington's latest move. "We support an international system and multilateralism established through legal rules. The fact that a country alone disrupts this and puts pressure on everyone to comply with its decisions is damaging and jeopardizing the international legal system," Cavusoglu said at a press conference Tuesday. -Dorian Jones, VOA 4/24/19

Iranian exports of crude oil and condensate have surged to levels near before sanctions, surprising market observers and affording the country an important victory in a US "economic war" on Tehran. Iran exported 1.70 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in March, the highest since October when shipments fell to 1.08 million bpd, data from shipping sources compiled by S&P Global Platts showed. -Press TV 4/10/19

The speaker of Iraq's parliament wants the United States to extend a waiver that allows it to buy electricity from Iran for at least three years, saying it will take that long before the oil-rich country can manage on its own. "Hopefully, this waiver will be extended until Iraq can stand on its feet economically," speaker Muhammad al-Halbusi said on March 29 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. 3/31/19

Iran is increasing its natural gas exports to a number of countries, including Turkey which plans to raise imports from its energy-rich neighbor, a senior official says. "Based on previous agreements, Iran is currently increasing gas exports to a number of countries including Turkey, Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan," head of the National Iranian Gas Company Hassan Montazer Torbati told IRNA. -PRESS TV 3/26/19

The United States is extending a waiver to allow Iraq to continue to buy electricity from Iran, despite sanctions imposed by Washington targeting Tehran's energy sector. The original waiver, issued in December 2017, expired on March 19. -RFE/RL 3/20/19

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has inaugurated four new phases of the huge offshore South Pars gas field in a move, which has been seen as a clear sign of the failure of US sanctions against the country. During an inaugural ceremony in the southern coastal city of Kangan on Sunday, Iran's president officially launched phases 13, 22, 23, and 24 of South Pars gas field, noting that despite all the US pressures on the Iranian nation, especially through the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions, Iranians remain steadfast and resistant and continue to progress. 3/17/19

Reuters on March 13 quoted two sources familiar with the matter in its report, quoting one as saying the "goal right now is to reduce Iranian oil exports to under 1 million barrels per day." The source added that the administration of President Donald Trump was concerned that if it pushed for a complete and immediate shutdown of Iran oil purchases, it would cause a large rise in prices on the world market. -RFE/RL 3/14/19

At least four people were killed on Thursday in an explosion of the pipelines that link the gas network from Mahshahr city to Ahvaz city in southwestern Iran, a senior provincial official said. A bus, a water tanker truck and a private car had also caught fire amid the explosion. -MNA 3/14/19

Iran on Sunday will launch four new development phases of the world's largest gas field at South Pars with a capacity to produce 112 million cubic meters per day, the Ministry of Petroleum says. President Hassan Rouhani will travel to Bushehr in the Persian Gulf to inaugurate two refineries built with $10 billion of investment. With their launch, Iran's daily gas production will surpass that of Qatar with which it shares the offshore field. -Press TV 3/13/19

Saudi plans to become a major gas exporter within a decade raise questions about what the real goal of the kingdom's policy, and by extension that of the United States, is towards Iran. Officially both Saudi Arabia and the US, which last year withdrew from the 2015 international accord that curbs the Islamic republic's nuclear program and imposed harsh economic sanctions, are demanding a change of Iran's regional and defense policies rather than of its regime... -James M. Dorsey 2/28/19

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani put 40 major development projects worth 60 trillion rials (about $1.428 billion) into operation in the southern province of Hormozgan on Sunday and Monday. The president also inaugurated the third phase of Persian Gulf Star Refinery in a ceremony on Monday participated by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. -Tehran Times 2/19/19

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in an announcement put Iran's reserves of recoverable liquid hydrocarbons at an estimated amount of 160.12 billion barrels, while its natural gas reserves stand at 33.33 trillion cubic meters. This makes Iran one of the world's largest holders of crude oil, condensate and gas liquids reserves on the planet. 2/6/19

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tuesday Italy and Greece had stopped buying oil from Iran despite being granted waivers from US sanctions. "Among the Europeans, except for Turkey, no other nation has purchased oil from Iran. Greece and Italy refuse to buy Iran's oil despite winning waivers. And they don't respond to our correspondence," said the oil minister at a press conference on Tuesday. 2/5/19

Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says Tehran is facing "serious problems in exporting oil" as a result of "brutal sanctions." Speaking in the south-eastern province of Kerman on Friday January 18, Nobakht said Iran is "too far away from the target of exporting 2,410,000 barrels per day planned in the country's budget," which should have brought $47 billion in revenues. -Radio Farda 1/19/19

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has decided to continue investing in two major Iranian oilfields but suspend investment in the South Pars natural gas project, Reuters claimed on Wednesday. CNPC convinced the US to continue investing in the North Azadegan and Masjid-i-Suleiman (MIS) oilfields, the news agency quoted two unidentified Chinese sources as saying. -Press TV 12/12/18

Despite the ongoing U.S. sanctions on Iran, India continues to be one of the chief importers of Iranian oil. Indeed, the state owned petrochemical corporation Indian Oil is set to import up to 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in December. That is more than 20 percent of current Iranian oil exports. -Radio Farda 12/5/18

President Hassan Rouhani has reaffirmed that the United States will not be able to stop Iran's oil sales, warning that no crude will find its way out of the Persian Gulf should Washington attempt to target Iranian crude exports. 12/4/18

At first glance, it seems that rising oil prices (33 percent growth in 2018) and low production costs can still generate petrodollars for Iran, even though its exports have declined by 40 percent to around 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) since the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal and announced the reimposition of sanctions in May. -Radio Farda 11/8/18

Iran's substantial natural gas reserves provide Russia with a significant strategic opportunity to solidify its role in the international arena. Although US secondary sanctions against Iran's petroleum sector resumed on November 5, Russia will most likely defy them by continuing to invest in Iran's natural gas sector. -Atlantic Council 11/5/18

The United States says it plans to issue temporary waivers to several countries, allowing them to continue purchasing Iranian oil without being subject to forthcoming U.S. sanctions. Sanctions on Iran are expected to be reinstated Monday, the result of U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal earlier this year from the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers. Any country importing Iranian oil that does not receive a waiver will be subject to U.S. financial penalties. -William Gallo, VOA 11/3/18

With spending $45.1 billion on fossil energy consumption subsidies in 2017, Iran ranked first globally, International Energy Agency reported Oct.29. The value, which increased 55% year-on-year, equals to 10.4% of Iran's annual GDP and 15% of total global energy subsidies. -Radio Farda 11/2/18

U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton says the White House wants sanctions on Iran's oil sector to put a strain on Iran's economy, but it does not want to harm "friends and allies" that depend on the oil. -RFE/RL 11/1/18

With just days to go before U.S. sanctions take effect on Iran's oil sector on November 5, Tehran's top two customers - India and China -- are resisting Washington's call to reduce purchases to zero, arguing there are not sufficient supplies worldwide to replace them, media are reporting. -RFE/RL 10/30/18

Iran has lost some customers for its oil because of looming U.S. sanctions, but high prices are making up for the lost sales, Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has said. "While some countries have stopped buying oil from Iran, we have found new partners," he was quoted as saying by Iran's IRIB broadcaster on October 15. -RFE/RL 10/16/18

A vessel carrying 2 million barrels of Iranian oil was reported on Tuesday to have discharged the crude into a bonded storage tank at the port of Dalian in northeast China. Keeping oil in bonded storage gives the shipment owner the option to sell into China or to other buyers in the region, Reuters news agency reported. -Press TV 10/11/18

The US administration has beaten its first retreat on planned sanctions against Iran, allowing a gasfield partly owned by the Islamic Republic in the North Sea to keep operating. The Rhum field northeast of Aberdeen, which supplies around 5 percent of Britain's gas demand, has now received a new operation license from the US Treasury, UK-listed producer Serica Energy said on Tuesday. 10/9/18

India is going to continue buying Iranian oil in November despite the U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported citing sources close to the Indian oil industry. "Refiners have placed November nominations to lift 1.25 million tons (about 9 million barrels) of oil from Iran," Reuters quoted a source as saying. 10/8/18

India's Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj says her country will continue to purchase Iran's oil despite sanctions re-imposed by the US on Iran. In a meeting with her Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Swaraj said India views Iran not only as a good neighbor but also a good friend. 9/27/18

India is allowing state refiners to import Iranian oil with Tehran arranging tankers and insurance after firms including the country's top shipper Shipping Corp of India (SCI) halted voyages to Iran due to U.S. sanctions, Reuters cited sources as saying on August 3. 9/5/18

Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh says French energy giant Total has officially left the country, ending speculations over whether it would stay to finish a gas project following the return of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. 8/20/18

An official at the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has told state-run news agency, IRNA, that the company was reducing its prices for September sales to Asia to their lowest level in 14 years, compared with Saudi crude. The discount has been offered at a time that the second batch of renewed US sanctions, targeting Iran's oil exports, is scheduled to be implemented on November 4. 8/14/18

China has rejected a US demand to cut Iranian oil imports despite Washington's attempts to bring down the Islamic Republic's oil sales to zero, Bloomberg reports. The financial news provider quoted informed officials on Friday as saying that the US had been unable to persuade China to cut Iranian oil imports and that Beijing's purchases from Tehran last month remained unchanged. 8/3/18

Some 1000 kilometers of new gas transferring pipelines will be connected to the national network of the country by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2019), according to the managing director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company. 7/27/18

Russia and Iran have discussed energy cooperation between the two countries and through OPEC as part of their efforts to blunt the impact of Western sanctions. According to Russia's Energy Ministry, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak met in Moscow and discussed the possibility of Russian oil companies taking part in projects in Iran. 7/24/18

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on July 21 backed President Hassan Rohani's suggestion that Iran may block oil exports from the Persian Gulf if its own exports are stopped. Khamenei's website said Khamenei supported Rohani's statement earlier in July that "if Iran's oil is not exported, no regional country's oil will be exported." 7/21/18

Japan is preparing to suspend its crude oil imports from Iran to comply with U.S. demands that are reinforced with threats of sanctions against companies that don't adhere to them. As a result, Japan's Iranian oil imports are expected to plunge to zero as soon as October. 7/20/18

Following Russia's lead, EU leaders are exploring the possibility of circumventing U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales by trading oil for goods instead of purchasing it, according to Iranian officials. The deputy chairman of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture, Pedram Soltani, said on July 17 that exchanging oil for goods could be one way of getting around the U.S. sanctions re-imposed after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal in May. 7/20/18

A fire at an oil refinery in the Iranian city of Abadan in southwestern Khuzestan Province has killed one person and injured 18. A report by Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency on June 28 said that the Abadan petrochemical complex caught fire at midnight on June 27 and that 10 of the injured were transferred to a hospital. 6/29/18

Turkey has said that it does not plan to honor a U.S. call for countries to stop importing oil from Iran, calling the demand "not binding" on Ankara. "We will follow if there are decisions, sanctions by the United Nations on this issue. Other than this, we will only follow our own interests," Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said. 6/28/18

A senior State Department official has told reporters the United States expects companies all over the world to cut their crude oil imports from Iran to zero by November 4 or face U.S. sanctions. The State Department official said he had been meeting with European diplomats to convey the message that the Trump administration is serious about enforcing new sanctions on trade with Iran since President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in May. -Cindy Saine, VOA 6/27/18

Iran has rejected a plan by Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase oil production at a meeting of the OPEC oil cartel this week in response to consumer disgruntlement with rising prices. "I don't believe at this meeting we can reach agreement," Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters after arriving in Vienna, where OPEC is headquartered, on June 19. 6/20/18

Following the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to leave the nuclear deal with Iran, European refineries have started to reduce purchases of Iranian oil. On May 8, Trump announced that his administration was withdrawing from the deal and re-imposing the old sanctions on Tehran. 6/7/18

Iran says it has started exchanging crude oil with Iraq through a strategic project which is believed to open a new route for Baghdad to export its oil. Iran's Ministry of Petroleum announced that road tankers carrying oil from Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk had crossed Iran's border and were already delivering oil to reserves in the western Province of Ilam. 6/4/18

The threat of U.S. sanctions has prompted Russian oil giant Lukoil to put its plans to develop projects in Iran on hold while the Indian company that owns the world's largest oil refining complex plans to stop buying oil from Iran, Reuters reported on May 30. -RFE/RL 5/31/18

Iran has signed an agreement with a British consortium to develop an oil field, in the first such deal with a Western firm since Washington announced it would exit the nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. The National Iranian South Oil Company signed an agreement with the London-based Pergas consortium to produce 655 million barrels of oil from the Keranj field in southwestern Iran in the next 10 years, Iran's Oil Ministry said on May 17 through its Shana news service. 5/18/18

Buyers of Iran's crude oil are winding down their business with the Islamic Republic after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimpose sanctions. 5/11/18

China has said that it remains committed to Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and assured Tehran that it will continue buying nearly one-third of Iranian oil exports. "We express regret over this decision made by the United States," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. He said that China wanted to "ensure the integrity and sanctity" of a pact that Beijing believes was important for curbing nuclear proliferation and promoting stability in the Middle East. 5/10/18

Billions of dollars in business deals between Iran and European companies inked after the 2015 nuclear agreement lifted sanctions on the Islamic Republic are now in jeopardy after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement May 8. The U.S. Treasury Department has said it will reinstate restrictions on companies doing business with Iran in the oil and banking sectors after 90 and 180-day grace periods respectively. 5/10/18

Oil prices surged to their highest levels since November 2014 as investors braced for U.S. President Donald Trump's decision on whether to withdraw from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers. Fears that the United States will reimpose sanctions that were lifted in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities in 2016 sent premium crude prices above $70 a barrel in New York trading on May 7 for the first time since November 2014. 5/8/18

Russia has begun "soil stabilization" work on the site of Phase 2 of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran, Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom has said. "On 3 May 2018, soil stabilization works under the reactor building of power unit No 2 commenced at Bushehr-2 NPP construction site," the agency said on its website on Thursday. 5/4/18

Iran has made a surprise offer to Turkmenistan that officials in Ashgabat might find difficult to reject. The head the National Iranian Oil Company, Hamidreza Araqi, said on April 29 that Iran was prepared enter into a gas-swap deal that would transfer Turkmen gas to Pakistan. Turkmenistan is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis since the country became independent in late 1991, and the Turkmen government has been desperately seeking new export routes for its major export: natural gas. -Bruce Pannier, RFE/RL 5/1/18

Power outages are inevitable next summer across Iran, the country's energy minister has warned. "Since the volume of water behind the dams is significantly lower than usual, if residents do not decrease electricity consumption, power cuts will be inevitable across the country," Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian announced on April 8. 4/10/18

Russian investment in developing Iran's oil and gas fields could total more than $50 billion, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov has said. "Energy is the most promising sphere for cooperation between Russia and Iran. Leading Russian oil and gas companies such as Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, Lukoil, Zarubezhneft and Tatneft are systemically working on development of fields in Iran. The expected amount of investments is over $50 billion," he told reporters in Moscow Monday. 4/5/18

Debilitating hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran is about lots of things, not least who will have the upper hand in a swath of land stretching from Central Asia to the Atlantic coast of Africa. While attention is focused on ensuring that continued containment of Iran ensures that Saudi Arabia has a leg up, geopolitics is but one side of the equation. Natural gas is the other. -James M. Dorsey 3/28/18