- Exxon Mobil (XOM +0.2%) reportedly is ramping up lobbying efforts with the U.S. government over sanctions against Iran that have locked out American oil companies from the country since 1979.
- XOM has hired the lobbying firm founded by former Sen. Don Nickles to work on Iranian sanctions, the first time it has enlisted outside lobbyists to discuss Iran since 2010.
- "Given sanctions and the dilapidation of oilfields over time, it looks like it’d be a lot of work” for foreign companies to revive production, says a Morningstar analyst, "but unlike Iraq, you don’t have a civil war going on, so it’d be an easier path to growing production."