Strong prices lift oil income

Strong crude prices boost the oil income of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) by nearly $142 billion (Dh521.5bn) in the first four months of 2010 and the full-year income could be more than double the 2009.

Official US data showed the 12-nation group earned around $252bn in the first four months of this year compared with about $110bn in the first four months of 2009. The figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy showed Opec, which controls nearly two thirds of the world's proven oil deposits, could net around $783bn this year, more than double its 2009 income of $573bn. The revenues are expected swell further to $846bn in 2011.

But the projected revenues through 2010-11 remain below the record oil export earnings of nearly $950bn achieved by Opec in 2008, when oil prices surged to a record high average of $95 a barrel.

Oil prices averaged around $60 in 2009 and the decline of nearly $35 in the prices along with a sharp cut in Opec's crude supplies were the main reasons for the steep fall in the 2009 income. EIA gave no reason for its revenue forecasts for 2010 and 2011 but analysts believe crude prices could end this year nearly $10 higher than in 2009 and rise further to around $80 in 2011. "EIA appears to be basing its assumption on the fact that oil demand is rebounding because of the global economic recovery and this means higher crude prices and higher Opec output," one analyst said.

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