Middle East Oil Revenue Hits $23 Billion in January
by mahmood on 27/02/06 at 10:19 am
According to the latest Gulf Research Centre report, member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) produced $23.15 billion in oil revenue in January, a $3 billion increase over the previous month. That, despite a 20,000 barrel per day decline in actual production.
The Gulf Reseearch Centre also warned that crude oil prices would return to the high $60s in the coming weeks due to political turmoil.
Oil revenues in the UAE reached $3.89 billion in January, second only to Saudi Arabia’s astonishing $12.66 billion.
This dip in production resulted from lower output by Saudi Arabia and the UAE by 40,000 bpd. However, Kuwait produced an additional 20,000 bpd.
In January Kuwait generated $3.80 billion, Qatar $1.41 billion, Oman $1.27 billion and Bahrain $120 million.
The report said political turmoil in Nigeria, the standoff between Iran, the West and the UN Security Council, and threats by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to halt oil exports to the US are all fingers on the trigger of volatile oil prices.
“Geopolitical events, accompanied by panic buying, stock piling and speculation will bring oil prices back to the high $60s range in the next few weeks,” the report warned.
“This situation may change if economic growth figures in countries like China and India exceed forecasts or do not meet expectations.”
Average monthly future and spot oil prices increased by more than 10 per cent in January.
The monthly average price of the Opec basket increased by $5.62 to $58.29 a barrel in January, from $52.67 a barrel in December.
The average spot price of Brent increased by $6.15 to $63.18 a barrel in January, from $57.03 in December. The average spot price of WTI increased by $6.89 to $67.93 a barrel in January from $59.49 in December.
World market fundamentals eased slightly due to warm weather in North America, but weather-related disruptions reduced production and exports in Russia, Australia, the North Sea and Iraq.
“In January, oil prices were driven by market fundamentals. Weather-related outages reduced world oil supplies and increased prices in January. Turmoil in Nigeria and Iraq also reduced production last month. The rest of the geopolitical factors increased market volatility,” the report said.
The Gulf Research Centre has warned prices will return to the high $60s in the coming weeks amid political turmoil.
AXcessNews.com
