Stuart Staniford catches us up today on Iranian oil production, which is falling like a rock. During 2009-10, Iran was producing about 3.7 million barrels per day. Today, they’re producing about 3.1 million bpd. Almost all of this decline represents a drop in exports, which in turn represents a loss of roughly $20 billion per year in revenue. As a percent of GDP, that’s about the equivalent of $600 billion for the United States. In other words, sanctions are hurting them.
Also: cyber war! “Since we are placing the Iranians under very severe pressure with sanctions, they have the motivation to learn quickly and cyberattacks are very cheap.” I’m a little less concerned with Iranian cyberattacks than Stuart is, but in the long term there’s no question that this is a growth industry.
