Sources
• Iranian energy ministry official
• British geopolitical expert for major consulting house
• Energy consultant operating in Iran
• Western diplomat in Libya
The Iran Energy Opportunity You Didn’t Expect
It’s time to look beyond the immediate and direct effect of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and watch where it’s taking things in a different direction. The biggest sector winner in this game is going to be renewables, and our sources in Iran, and within the Iranian Energy Ministry are on board with a complete change in tact: Iran is making big plans to go green precisely because of the bite of sanctions.
This has been an incredibly frustrating year for the energy players in Iran, but this time around, the continuously confrontational relationship isn’t leading to an attitude of simply biding one’s time until it all blows over. This time it’s about spurring lasting change, and that means opportunities where we didn’t expect them previously.
According to an official with the Ministry of Energy in Iran—who numbers among our sources--one of the main priorities of the government for 2019 is renewable energy, and they are now moving forward with cementing a legal and policy framework for the renewable industry. Although ‘renewable energy’ is not defined in Iranian law, several measures are already in place to ensure the rapid growth of the industry…