Based on projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) December 2012 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA estimates that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could earn about $1,052 billion of net oil export revenues in 2012 and about $955 billion in 2013, in nominal terms (unadjusted for inflation). In 2011, EIA estimates that OPEC earned about $1,027 billion in net oil export revenues, a 33-percent increase from 2010. Saudi Arabia earned the largest share of these earnings, $310 billion in 2011, representing approximately 30 percent of total OPEC revenues. On a per-capita basis, OPEC net oil export earnings reached about $2,685 in 2011.

For each country, EIA made estimates of net oil exports using oil production and consumption estimates from the latest edition of the STEO. For countries that export several different crude varieties, EIA assumes that the proportion of total net oil exports represented by each variety is equal to the proportion of the total domestic production represented by that variety. For example, since Arab Medium represents 20 percent of total oil production in Saudi Arabia, it is assumed that Arab Medium also represents 20 percent of total net oil exports from Saudi Arabia. EIA assumes that these exports are then sold at prevailing spot prices. Projected revenues are then estimated using EIA's projections for oil prices from the STEO. These projections incorporate historical price differentials between the different OPEC crude oil types and the benchmark crude oil prices that are projected in the STEO.

View entire series (1975-2013)

View entire series (1975-2013)