Iranian oil-output is surging, for now

The scale of Iran's oil-output growth this year has been startling. Without IOCs, longer-term plans will prove more difficult

All things considered, a 0.75m-barrels-a-day rise in crude output since December 2015 represents startling progress for post-sanctions Iran-and a principal reason why the recovery in global oil prices hasn't yet taken hold. It's a feather in the cap for Tehran, too. Iran's most recent production level-3.63m b/d during July, according to Opec-has defied sceptics, including those among the country's rivals. Few of them expected a 25% leap, saying Iran's oilfields hadn't been maintained properly through sanctions. Not so. At the state company, senior Nioc officials say actual production is much higher, at around 3.8m b/d, and that Iran has now reclaimed about 80% of the market share it held bef