Saudi earned $931m a day in 2012

Saudi Arabia earned nearly $931 million from oil exports in 2012, an average 38.7 million every hour or about $645,000 every minute.

The income is expected to fall to nearly $765 million a day in 2013 due to a projected decline in crude prices and the Gulf Kingdom’s oil output.

Independent figures showed Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, earned nearly $339.8 billion in 2012, its highest crude export earnings since the country began pumping oil more than eight decades ago.

The figures by the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments showed the 2012 income was nearly 7.3 per cent above the 2011 oil revenue of about $316.6 billion and almost double the 2009 income of around $171 billion.

The surge in the Kingdom’s income in 2012 was a result of a sharp rise in crude prices, which hit their highest average of $106.1 for Saudi crude. The country also pumped a record high average output of nearly 9.8 million barrels per day.

In a study sent to Emirates 24/7, Jadwa expected Saudi Arabia’s oil export earnings to slump to nearly $279.4 million in 2013, a daily average of around 765 million.

The report showed the decline would be a result of a drop in average prices of Saudi crude to $99.4 a barrel and in its production to about 9.6 million bpd.

A further fall in prices to $96.2 and in output to 9.4 million bpd in 2014 is expected to depress Riyadh’s oil income to around $263.4billion, according to Jadwa.

The figures showed the high income in 2013 would sharply widen Saudi Arabia’s fiscal surplus to around SR177 billion, more than 17 times the budgeted balance.

The Kingdom’s foreign assets, which have more than doubled over the past six years, are also projected to swell from $656.9 billion at the end of 2012 to $698.9 billion at the end of 2013. Jadwa forecast the assets to soar above $700 billion for the first time at the end of 2014 to reach $734 billion.

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