Iran opens up bidding with new terms on oil projects, but sanctions preclude US companies from participating. When Iran offers up stakes in several oil production projects under new contract terms this week, companies that hail from countries all over the world are expected to engage – but not those based in the United States. For decades, U.S. sanctions have essentially forbidden its businesses to invest in Iran’s energy industry. There’s a caveat permitting for $20 million, but as Wood MacKenzie’s Iran expert Homayoun Falakshahi told me, “$20 million is pretty much nothing.” In addition, banking sanctions preclude Iran’s access to the U.S. financial systems, and that means access to the U.S. dollar. “So it’s not only U.S. companies, but it is also U.S. banks, European banks that have a lot of operations in the United States, and other E&P (exploration and production) companies that have assets in the […]