From an economic standpoint, one of the most significant aspects of today’s US-Iran nuclear deal is that it could open up Iran’s vast crude oil reserves to the rest of the world. Once Europe and the US lift their sanctions, Iran will be able to ramp up crude production and exports, pushing down global oil prices even further. But here’s the catch: that won’t all happen immediately. It will likely take at least six months before we see any significant oil effect from the deal. And possibly even longer than that. Even if all goes as planned, the US and EU likely won’t lift sanctions on Iran until 2016 at the earliest. At that point, Iran can start selling some of the roughly 30 million barrels of oil it currently has stored in vast floating tankers off the coast. That will be a short-term blip. But after that, it could take years for Iran to boost production in its crippled oil fields back to pre-sanctions levels. The country has a vast amount of crude
JUIL