Opec's H1 income peaks at $645bn

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) netted $645 billion (Dh2.3 trillion) in oil export earnings in the first half of 2008 as the oil exporting group pumped crude at one of its highest levels and oil prices averaged above $100 a barrel, according to figures.

The income was almost equivalent to the total oil revenues of 2007 and the combined crude export revenues of the 13-nation group during 2000-2002, showed the figures by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy. The revenues meant Opec earned an average $3.58bn a day from sales in the first half of this year, its highest daily income since it was created 48 years ago.

The UAE earned around $61bn in the first half, just $2bn below its total 2007 income and experts believe the country's income could exceed $100bn in 2008.

"Barring unexpected developments, which could drive prices sharply down, the UAE could be earning above $100bn this year, while Saudi Arabia's income could exceed $350bn… Opec as a whole could earn as much as $1.3trn through the year," Saeed Al Shaikh, chief economist at the Saudi National Commercial Bank, said. EIA's figures showed Saudi Arabia, the world's dominant oil power, which pumps nearly a third of Opec's crude supplies, earned a record $192bn in the first half of 2008, close to its total 2007 revenues of around $194bn.

Kuwait, another major oil producer, netted nearly $54bn, just $1bn below its 2007 income, while Iran's revenues stood at $54bn.

Qatar's income of $26bn in the first half of 2008 was the same as in 2007, while conflict-battered Iraq earned in the first half more than in the whole of 2007. Its first half income stood at $39bn compared with $38bn during 2007. EIA put Libya's first half income at $37bn and that of Algeria at around $4bn. The oil export revenues of Venezuela, Angola and Nigeria were estimated at nearly $41bn, $47bn and $46bn respectively.

Ecuador, a small Opec producer, earned around $7bn, while Indonesia has become a net oil importer, with an import value of around $4bn in the first half, equivalent to its oil imports in 2007.

EIA projections showed Opec could earn a record $1.25trn during 2008 but experts said such forecasts are subject to revision through the year, depending on price movements as was in the case in previous years.

"At current prices, Opec's earnings this year could exceed its combined revenues in 10 years during the 1990s," one expert said.

"This underscores the real oil windfall and its impact on the economies of oil producers, mainly those in the Gulf given their heavy reliance on crude exports. Oil prices average above $100 a barrel during the first half of 2008 and could remain above that level through the year despite the recent slide of more than $20.

Prices average around $72 in 2007 and $60 in 2006.