OPEC increases its revenues by 32 percent

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have increased their revenues by 32 percent in the last year.

According to US Energy Information Administration data, OPEC members earned $711 billion in 2018, compared to revenues of $538 billion in 2017.

The increase comes as a result of increasing crude oil prices during 2018.

The most striking feature of the report is that Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter from the group, has nearly one-third of the total revenue of OPEC with earnings of $237 billion in 2018. 

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are the second and third highest-earning countries with $91 billion and $74 billion respectively.

Despite the US re-imposing sanctions on Iran in November 2018, Iran also increased its net revenue from $55 billion in 2017 to $67 billion in 2018.

Venezuela was the only country that saw its petroleum export revenue decrease in the previous year as a result of US sanctions.

Kuwait had the highest oil revenue per capita at $14,683.

However, revenue is expected to drop to $604 billion in 2019 as both oil production and oil prices drop.

On a per-capita basis, net export revenues are expected to decrease by 17 percent, from $1,416 in 2018 to $1,180 in 2019.

The average production of crude oil among the OPEC will decrease to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2019. 

On December 7, OPEC and its Russia-led partners agreed to cut oil production by more than the market had expected despite pressure exerted by US President Donald Trump to reduce the price of crude exports.

Just after the decision, Arab members of OPEC announced a decision to cut oil production despite Trump’s pressures.

The decision was considered in order to decrease the budget deficit of countries that rely heavily on oil exports.