UAE was Opec's third biggest earner in Q1

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) earned nearly $187 billion (Dh686bn) in the first quarter of 2010, nearly 96 per cent higher than its income in the same period of 2009, official US figures showed yesterday.

Saudi Arabia, the world's oil powerhouse, netted more than a quarter of the 12-nation group's total income while Iran and the UAE were the second and third largest earners, showed figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy.

Saudi Arabia's income stood at $51bn while that of Iran and the UAE was estimated at nearly $18bn and $17bn respectively, EIA said in its monthly report.

Nigeria netted the fourth largest revenues of $16bn, followed by Kuwait, which earned around $15bn.

Other key earners were Angola and Algeria while the earnings of conflict-battered Iraq, which is not part of Opec's output quota system, stood at about $12bn in the first quarter of this year.

Opec's revenues in the first quarter of 2010 were almost double its income of around $95bn in the first quarter of 2009. EIA gave no reason for the surge but the price of Opec's basket of 12 crudes averaged around $72 a barrel in the first quarter of 2010 compared with nearly $42 in the same period of 2009, according to Opec's data.

EIA projected Opec's income at around $769bn in 2010, far higher than the cartel's earnings of $573bn in 2009. It expected the income to swell to $828bn in 2011.

Oil prices averaged around $62 in 2009 while they are forecast to be above $70 this year and could climb to $80 in 2011 because of an expected rise in global demand. This could prompt Opec to increase output and boost earnings.

Prices shot up to their highest average of $95 in current prices in 2008 and this allied with high production to lift Opec's crude export earnings to a record high of nearly $966bn, according to the EIA.

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