OPEC’s 2016 oil export revenues will probably fall 15%, about $341b in 2016, compared to 2015 levels, based on projections of global oil prices and the group’s production levels, Reuters wrote. Oil revenues are expected to decline for the third consecutive year, which will likely be the lowest in more than a decade, but start rising again in 2017, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, according to Trade Arabia.
At the projected level, OPEC’s 2016 export earnings would be the lowest since 2004, when it earned about $295b. While for 2017, OPEC revenues are projected to reach $427b as a result of an expected rise in crude oil prices, higher OPEC production, and stronger exports.
In 2015, Brent crude prices plummeted about 35% to $20 a barrel, as major producers grappled with one of the worst gluts in history. World’s top oil producers have failed to join a deal to boost oil prices by freezing oil output when Iran refused to take part in the global initiative as demanded by Riyadh. In 2015, Saudi Arabia earned the largest share, about one third of total OPEC oil revenues amounting to $130b.