Between January and May, Iran’s reported oil production jumped from 2.93 million barrels per day to about 3.6 million barrels per day. Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, claims Iran’s production will increase to 4 million barrels per day by the end of the year and 4.8 million in the next several years.  The latest data, however, show that Iran appears to have maxed out its productive capacity and will likely not be able to sustain oil production levels much beyond 3.6 million barrels.

This puts even more political pressure on Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh and President Hassan Rouhani to restore damaged oil fields and open new ones. To do this, Iran needs a significant infusion of capital from foreign sources.

Read on at Forbes.com and find out which Iranian companies in the energy sector are now authorized to work with foreign companies.