OPEC $1 trillion bonanza on $100 per barrel

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FE Team | Published: April 04, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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PARIS, April 3 (Commodity Online): If oil prices stay about $100 per barrel for the year, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will earn more than $1 trillion, an all-time record, said the IEA. Nevertheless, the world, on average, is currently consuming half as much oil per unit of gross domestic product compared with 1971 levels, Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. He added this was primarily due to improvements in energy efficiency. Birol also told that, even though energy producers are gaining ground from high oil prices, the overall impact on the economy could be dramatic. "The overall impact will depend largely on the extent of the price increase, its persistence, monetary policy response, and how producers spend their windfall revenues," he said in a statement. Most major oil importers, meanwhile, are spending now what they spent on oil in 2008 before the global economic meltdown. Oil prices have risen substantially since September. Unrest in the Middle East contributed to further pressure as most of the oil from Libya is shut out of the market.