The 11-member Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) has recently reported a 22.1 percent fall in its collective oil income, dropping from $179 billion in 2000 to $139.4 billion in the year 2001.
The organization’s annual report attributed this drop to a three percent decrease in oil output, following cutbacks in the production quotas of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members. Another factor that contributed to the fall was the internationally declining oil prices, which have averaged $23.1 per barrel in 2001, down from $27.6 in the previous year 2000.
Bahrain has earned $2.05 billion in 2001, as compared to Saudi Arabia, whose oil income amounted to $59.4 billion, accounting for 42.5 percent of OAPEC’s total income. A calculation of oil income per capita in the Arab member states shows great disparity. In Egypt, oil income per reached $20 in 2001, compare to $129 in Syria, $10,957 in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar and 6,064 in Kuwait.
OAPEC is an instrument of Arab cooperation whose objective is to provide support to the Arab oil industry. Its activities are developmental in nature, and its membership is restricted to Arab countries with oil revenues that constitute a significant part of their Gross National Product (GNP). Furthermore, it caters for issues that relate to energy in all members of the Arab League, and for that purpose a meeting is organized every four years.
OAPEC was established in 1968 with permanent headquarters in Kuwait. Its members are: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
