Iran is one of the only countries on earth with the potential to add significant oil supply to a global oil market that is desperately tight. In its latest attempt to leverage its significant oil reserves in order to restart JCPOA negotiations, Iran has announced a huge expansion of its Azadegan field. The location of the Azadegan field, which borders Iraq, is also significant as it is impossible for the U.S. to determine the origin of the crude that is extracted from this field. A principal strategy being used by Iran to pressure the U.S. into dropping the conditions required for a new iteration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to be agreed upon is to position itself as a huge reservoir of oil (and gas) that can be used to bring global oil prices down and alleviate the economic hardships that these are causing. Given the […]