says. Speaking to reporters outside the recent gathering of OPEC ministers, Mir-Kazemi said, “For the next five years, we are … planning seriously for investment upstream and downstream of $200 billion.”
He said domestic investment could sustain all of that if foreign firms fail to sign up—and foreign firms are indeed showing less and less interest in Iran, partly because of the international political climate but also because of Iran’s stiff demands and difficult red tape.
It is by no means certain that Iranian sources could sustain investment at $40 billion a year for five years. Higher oil prices might make that possible, but low oil prices would not.