OPEC has earned about $982 billion in net oil export revenues for 2012, a 5% increase from 2011, according to the U.S. EIA.
The earnings were the highest ever recorded for the international oil cartel.
Saudi Arabia earned the largest share of these earnings, reaching $311 billion in 2012, which represented almost a third of total OPEC revenues. The UAE came in second place behind Saudi Arabia, earning $100 billion over the year in revenue.
In oil-export-revenues per capita terms, Qatar ranked the highest amongst the OPEC countries, weighing in at $54,071. It was followed by Kuwait which earned $29,440 in net oil export revenues per capita.
These net export earnings do not include Iran’s revenues, due to the difficulties associated with estimating Iran’s earnings, including its inability to receive payments and possible price discounts Iran offers its existing customers.
According to OPEC’s oil market report for December 2012, the first quarter of the year saw a significant increase in the value of the OPEC Reference Basket. The upward push was driven by factors such as disruptions in the North Sea and some countries in the West and East Africa that saw supply fears due to geopolitical tensions and increasing speculative activities in the crude futures markets which led the OPEC basket’s value to reach over $120 a barrel.
Prices dropped below $100 a barrel in the second quarter as ample supply and concerns about the economic outlook, especially in Europe, outweighed any lingering supply fears leading to a speculative sell off. The third quarter saw prices climb back up to around $110 a barrel and the OPEC daily basket price for the end of 2012 was $107.79 a barrel.
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