In 2015, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) earned about $404 billion in net oil export revenues, according to estimates by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents a 46% decline from the $753 billion earned in 2014. This revenue total was the lowest earnings for OPEC since 2010.
EIA projects that OPEC net oil export revenues could fall further to about $341 billion dollars in 2016. On a per capita basis, OPEC net oil export earnings are expected to decline by about 17% from $606 in 2015 to $503 in 2016.
The expected decline in OPEC's net export earnings is attributed to lower forecast annual crude oil prices in 2016 compared with 2015. The price declines are expected to more than offset OPEC's increased production and exports in 2016.
EIA projects that OPEC crude oil production will average 32.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2016, 0.8 million b/d higher than in 2015. For 2017, OPEC revenues are projected to be $427 billion, with an increase in forecast crude oil prices, coupled with higher OPEC production and exports, contributing to the rise in overall earnings.
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