Opec in record export income

OPEC’s income from oil and gas exports jumped 35 per cent to more than $1 trillion (£625bn) last year as world oil prices hit record highs, the oil cartel said in its Annual Statistical Bulletin yesterday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said the total sales compared to $746bn in 2007, which was itself a record.

US crude oil futures started 2008 at around $100 per barrel, then rose to over $147 in July and then retreated to around $40 by the end of the year, giving an average price for 2008 of around $99, up from $72 in 2007.