OPEC Members to Earn $1.17trn from Oil Exports
Nigeria and 11 other member countries of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could earn an estimated $1.171 trillion of net oil export revenues in 2012 and $1.133 trillion in 2013, according to the latest projections from Energy Information Administration (EIA).
OPEC member countries earned $1.03 trillion in 2011, a 33 percent increase from its 2010 income.
The United States’ EIA said in its just-released Short-term Energy Outlook (STEO), that OPEC kingpin, Saudi Arabia, earned the largest share of these earnings, $312billion, representing about 30 per cent of total OPEC revenues. On a per capita basis OPEC earnings reached $2,684 last year, the EIA said.
The agency also projected that electricity generation from coal would decline by about 10 per cent this year as generation from natural gas increases by about 17 per cent.
It added that electricity generation from coal will increase by about 7 per cent and generation from natural gas fall by 3 percent in 2013 as projected coal prices to the power sector fall slightly while natural gas prices increase, allowing coal to regain some of its power sector generation share.
In its annual report OPEC had revealed that its total oil export earnings surged to around $650 billion in 2010 from $518 billion in 2009 mainly because of an increase of nearly $15 in oil prices.
The group earned a recorded an all-time high income of around $966 billion in 2008 when crude prices reached the highest level ever at averaged nearly $147 per barrel.
OPEC’s crude oil production averaged 31.39 million barrels per day (mbpd) in March, representing an increase of 120,000 barrel per day (bpd) from an estimated 31.27 million bpd in February.
A recent survey by Platts showed that production increases totaling 320,000 bpd from Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia were partly offset by decreases totaling 200,000 bpd from Angola and Iran.
Oil output from the organisation had risen in February to the highest since October 2008 due to a further recovery in Libya's production, higher supplies from Angola and Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey of sources at oil companies, OPEC officials and analysts had revealed.
Supply from member countries had averaged 31.23 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 30.95 million bpd in January, the survey showed. The survey also suggested OPEC was producing over 1.2 million bpd more than its target of 30 million bpd.
The March estimate, the survey noted leaves OPEC exceeding its 30 million bpd output target by 1.39 million bpd. The target does not include individual country quotas.
This article was originally posted on Africa Oil & Mining Network
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