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28 March 2024

Opec income soars by $145bn in nine months

Projections show OPEC’s total income will surge by nearly 30 per cent to $751 billion through 2010. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Nadim Kawach

Strong oil prices boosted Opec's crude export earnings by nearly $145 billion in the first nine months of 2010 and the income could end the year higher by around 30 per cent, official US figures showed on Saturday.

The 12-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps just under 40 per cent of the world’s oil supplies, earned about $547 billion in the first nine months of this year compared with nearly $402 billion in the first nine months of 2009, showed the figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy.

EIA’s projections showed Opec's total income will surge by nearly 30 per cent to $751 billion through 2010 from around $571 billion during 2009. The new forecasts for 2010 are nearly $10 billion higher than earlier projections as EIA apparently expects higher crude prices and output by OPEC.

EIA gave no reason for the revenue surge in the first nine months but analysts attributed it to a large increase in crude prices, which averaged above $70 a barrel, $20 higher than the average oil price in the first nine months of 2009.

According to the analysts, oil prices could average more than $70 this year compared with nearly $60 a barrel in 2009, citing the recent surge in prices above $80 and Opec's decision to keep its output ceiling unchanged.

Crude prices could swell above $80 in 2011 because of stronger demand on the back of global economic recovery and this is expected to boost Opec's income to $819 billion, according to EIA, which also revised upward its earlier forecast about Opec's 2011 income of $805 billion.

A breakdown showed Saudi Arabia, the world’s oil powerhouse which pumps nearly a third of Opec's crude supply, was the top earner in the cartel, with around $146 billion in the first nine months of 2010, surpassing the income of around $137 billion it achieved through 2009.

Iran, the second largest producer in Opec, netted nearly $52 billion during January-September this year against $48 billion during 2009.

The UAE was the third largest earner, with around $49 billion, also higher than its last year’s revenues of nearly $47 billion, EIA’s figures showed.

The report estimated the oil export earnings in the first nine months of 2010 at $48 billion for Nigeria, $42 billion for Kuwait, $41 billion for Angola, $40 billion for Algeria, $35 billion for Iraq, $32 billion for Libya, $30 billion for Venezuela, $26 billion for Qatar, and around $five billion for Ecuador.

A surge in crude prices to a record high average of more than $95 a barrel in 2008 allied with higher production to boost Opec's income to an all time high of more than $900 billion in current prices.

Opec, which controls over 70 per cent of the world’s extractable crude deposits, slashed output quotas by over four million bpd through 2009. The bulk of the cut was made by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, which are believed to have trimmed supplies by more than 1.5 million barrels per day.