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29 March 2024

Opec's income to soar by $310bn in 2011

Published
By Nadim Kawach

A sharp increase in oil prices will likely boost Opec's income by nearly $310 billion in 2011 to push it up to its highest level since the organisation was created more than 50 years ago, according to independent forecasts.

The 12-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries earned nearly $830 billion in gross export income from its crude and NGL sales in 2010 and the earnings could swell to $1.14 trillion in 2011, showed the figures by the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES).

The income this year is expected to be nearly $310bn above the 2010 revenue and almost double the 2009 earnings of $640bn. It is also expected to smash the previous record income of $997bn achieved in 2008, when crude prices climbed to their highest average of $95 a barrel.

“The sharp rise in Opec's income this year will be mainly a result of the large increase in crude prices which will hit a record through the year,” CGES deputy director Leo Drollas told 'Emirates24|7'.

Drollas said he was working on breakdown revenue estimates for the Vienna-based OPEC but noted that most members would see a sharp rise in income.

Analysts said Saudi Arabia, the world’s dominant oil exporter, would be the main beneficiary from the crude price rise given its high output and the recent steep increase in its supplies to offset supply disruption in conflict-battered Libya.

The UAE, which controls the sixth largest crude reserves in the world, is also believed to have boosted oil supply to one of its highest levels of 2.6 million bpd while Kuwait said this week its output had risen to an all time high of 2.9 mbpd.

According to the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment, Saudi Arabia’s oil export revenue could reach $278bn in 2011 compared with around $215bn in 2010.

The UAE’s oil earnings could also peak close to $100bn after hitting a record high of around $87 billion in 2008.

Opec's data showed its basket price has averaged around $107.4 a barrel so far this year and energy analysts expect them to remain above $100 through 2011.

It will be the highest nominal yearly oil price average in history and will be far above the 2010 average of $77.4 and the 2009 price of $61.

Crude prices climbed to their highest annual average of $94.5 in 2008 after rocketing to more than $145 in August that year. They collapsed by over 50 per cent in the wake of the global fiscal distress in mid September 2008.