OPEC export revenue declines 15% in 2016

Oil export revenue for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell 15% to $433 billion in 2016, from $509 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The 2016 revenue, which was the lowest since 2004, declined “mainly because of the fall in average annual crude oil prices and, to a lesser extent, because of decreases in OPEC net oil exports.”

In 2017, oil export revenue for OPEC is projected to rise 24% to $539 billion, according to the EIA. Revenue is expected to rise because crude oil prices and output are slightly higher. In 2018, oil export revenue should be $595 billion, as crude oil prices rise and OPEC production and exports increase.

“Saudi Arabia has consistently earned more oil export revenues than any other member of OPEC, with its share in total OPEC net oil export revenues ranging between 29% and 34% since 1996,” according to the EIA. “Iran’s revenue share has fluctuated, with a significant reduction evident over the 2012-15 period mainly as a result of the imposition of nuclear-related sanctions by the United States and the European Union that targeted Iran’s oil exports.” In 2016, Iran’s oil export revenue rose 8%, and it was the only OPEC country in which the revenue increased in the year.

Libya’s oil export revenue has fluctuated since 2010 when the “country’s oil sector was disrupted during the civil war that overthrew the Gadhafi regime and more recently as warring factions in the country have repeatedly targeted oil sector installations,” according to the EIA. Meanwhile, Iraq’s oil output has risen since 2010 and accounted for 12% of the total export revenue of OPEC in 2016.