In recent years, oil & gas production in Iran has been largely defined by the impact of international sanctions. Here the prospects for the country with a large share of the world's oil reserves are reviewed by Douglas-Westwood in their 'DW Monday' focus. The nation possesses the world’s fourth largest proven oil reserves and second largest gas reserves. However, despite this, production has faltered. Sanctions enacted by the United States and European Union in 2011 and 2012 have crippled an otherwise promising energy sector. The economic impact has been severe — oil & gas export revenues dropped by almost 53% due to significantly decreased liquids export. This figure may make for sobering reading, but all is not lost for the oil & gas industry.