UAE 11-month oil income leaps $15bn

Strong oil prices boosted the UAE’s crude export earnings by nearly $15 billion in the first 11 months of 2010 but its full year income is projected to be far lower than its record high revenue in 2008, according to official US data.

The oil income of the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also jumped by around $168 billion during the January-November period and it could head for its second highest level in the group’s 50-year history.

The figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy showed the UAE’s crude export earnings stood at around $61 billion in the first 11 months of this year against $46 billion in the same period of 2009.

It was the UAE’s highest income for such a period and the earnings are expected to climb to their second highest level through 2010 after hitting an all time high of nearly $91 billion in 2008 when average crude prices peaked above $95.

Analysts said the UAE’s oil revenue could be around $65 billion in 2010, far below the 2008 level as oil prices are projected to average much lower.

The figures showed OPEC, which pumps just under 40 per cent of the global crude supply, earned around $680 billion during the first 11 months of 2010 compared with $512 billion in the first 11 months of 2009.

The 11-month income this year is already way above the total 2009 earnings of nearly $571 billion and they could swell to about $750 billion by the end of this year, nearly $175 billion above the 2009 income.

EIA gave no reason for the surge in the Cartel’s earnings so far this year but oil prices were far higher, averaging around $75 during the first 11 months of this year against about $55 in the first 11 months of 2009.

Oil prices are forecast to average around $75 this year compared with nearly $60 in 2009, when they were jolted by the 2008 global fiscal crisis.

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 $847 billion, according to EIA, which has revised upward its earlier forecast about OPEC’s 2011 income of $805 billion.

A breakdown showed all OPEC members netted much higher revenue in the first 11 months of 2010, with Saudi Arabia earning around $184 billion compared with nearly $139 billion in the same period of 2009.

Iran, the second largest earner in OPEC, netted nearly $64 billion against $49 billion in the same period, EIA’s figures showed.

Kuwait’s revenue stood at about $52 in the first 11 months of this year compared with around $41 billion in the first 10 months of 2009.

Conflicted-battered Iraq earned about $43 billion in the first 11 months of 2010 compared with nearly $33 billion in the same period of last year.

The income of Nigeria surged to nearly $60 billion from $41 billion while it swelled to $50 billion from $38 billion in Algeria, to $50 billion from $38 billion in Angola, to $39 billion from 31 billion in Libya, to $37 billion from $30 billion in Venezuela, to $33 billion from $21 billion in Qatar and to $six billion from about $five billion in Ecuador, the report showed.

The surge in crude prices in 2008 because of strong demand and speculation allied with much higher production to boost OPEC’s collective income to an all time high of nearly $966 billion in current prices, according to EIA.

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.

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