Opec, the oil producers' cartel, will reap $1,000bn in export revenues this year for the first time if crude prices remain above $100 a barrel, according to the International Energy Agency. The cartel has been one of the main beneficiaries of high oil prices, which have soared in recent weeks amid the civil uprisings in the Middle East and north Africa.
Brent crude was trading at $115 a barrel on Tuesday.
Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA, said a new assessment by the rich nations' oil watchdog showed that the total number of barrels exported by Opec in 2011 would be slightly lower than in 2008, when cartel oil revenues reached $990bn. But if average prices remain around $100 a barrel, Opec's oil revenues will still reach a record of $1,000bn this year.
"It would be the first time in the history of Opec that oil revenues have reached a trillion dollars. It's mainly because of higher prices and higher production," Mr Birol said in a Financial Times interview. "However, Saudi Arabia has made substantial efforts to calm down the oil markets by increasing production and hinder prices from going higher." (read more)
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