UAE oil income soars by $12bn in first half

From around $21bn in the first half of 2009, the UAE’s oil export revenue surged to nearly $33 billion in the first half of 2010, showed the figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy.

 

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter which controls nearly a quarter of the global oil wealth, saw its income leap by nearly 64 per cent to $100bn in the first half of this year from $61bn in the same period of 2009.

 

Kuwait, another Gulf oil heavyweight, also recorded a sharp rise in its earnings, which swelled to $29bn from $20bn in the same period.

 

The income of the other Gulf oil producers soared from $10bn to $17bn in Qatar, to $35bn from $22bn in Iran and to $24bn from $16bn in conflict-battered Iraq, which is not included in Opec’s quota system.

 

There were also steep rises in the income of the other members of the 12-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which pumps just under 40 per cent of the world’s oil supplies but controls nearly 70 per cent of the global recoverable crude resources, most of which are based in the Middle East.

 

EIA estimated Opec’s total income at $371bn in the first half of 2010, nearly $141bn above its earnings of $230bn in the first half of 2009.

 

The report gave no reason for the sharp rise but crude prices have largely improved over the past few months, averaging nearly $70 in the first half of this year. They were nearly $20 higher than their average in the first half of 2009 and nearly double their average in the first quarter of last year.

 

As for production, the level has remained almost equivalent to that in the first half of last year as most Opec members appear to be relatively compliant with a collective Cartel agreement to trim crude supply to keep prices firm.

 

Oil executives expect crude prices to average around $70 this year compared with nearly $60 in 2009. But they remain far below the record price average of around $95 a barrel in 2008, when Opec’s output was also high.

 

The surge in crude prices n 2008 combined with rising production boosted OPEC’s income to its highest ever level of $968bn in current prices and allowed most members to record massive fiscal surpluses.

 

Prices rapidly plunged in the second half of 2008 under the pressure of faltering demand because of the global financial turbulence.

 

EIA’s forecasts showed Opec’s income plunged to about $571bn in 2009 but expected it to rebound sharply to nearly $751bn this year and $813bn in 2011, when prices could rise further.