The U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil sector are impacting the Islamic Republic’s ability to potentially increase production in the long term if the U.S.-Iran tensions subside and sanctions ease. Iran relies 100 percent on imports for oil rig equipment, but the sanctions have stifled such imports from the U.S. and Europe, Mohsen Mihandoust, a director at Iran’s Society of Petroleum Engineers, told Reuters in an interview published on Tuesday. Due to the sanctions, at least a quarter of the oil rigs, or 40 out of 160, in Iran are now out of work—either idle or under repairs, Reuters reported, citing financial documents and sources in the industry. Iran’s oil rigs will be inefficient or very old within the next five years, according to Reuters’ sources. With the U.S. sanctions in place, Iran doesn’t have many options to repair rigs in the short to medium term because it cannot import […]