UAE has netted $664bn in oil revenues

The UAE has pumped nearly 27.7 billion barrels of oil since it began commercial crude exports more than four decades ago, according to official data. The output accounts for around nine per cent of the total 302 billion barrels pumped by Arab nations since they discovered oil half a century ago, showed the figures by Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).

The Kuwaiti-based OAPEC, which groups the UAE and 10 other Arab oil producers, gave no figures on revenue but at an average price of around $24 since 1965, the UAE has netted a total $664.8 billion (Dh2.43 trillion) from its oil sales.

This means its average annual oil export earnings stood at around $15bn in current prices, nearly $41m a day. Despite the large produced quantity, the UAE's proven oil reserves jumped from less than 35 billion barrels in early 1970s to 98.7 billion barrels at the start of 2009, OAPEC said in a study about Arab oil production and discoveries.

At that average price, the cumulative Arab oil income reached around $7.248trn, of which more than a third was earned by Saudi Arabia.

The report said Saudi Arabia, the world's dominant oil power, has pumped a cumulative 112.6 billion barrels since it began producing crude nearly 70 years ago. This means it has netted a staggering $2.688trn.

Kuwait, another Gulf oil heavyweight, produced nearly 40.8 billion barrels, worth around $979bn. Iraq's cumulative output totalled 33.8 billion barrels, fetching the conflict-battered country around $811bn.

OAPEC estimated the cumulative production at around 12.6 billion in Qatar and nearly 9.2 billion barrels in Oman. Outside the Gulf, it stood at 27.4 billion in Libya, 15.8 billion in Algeria, 11.1 billion in Egypt, 4.9 billion in Syria and 2.5 billion in Yemen. The rest was produced in Sudan and other countries.

The report showed the total Arab proven oil reserves increased by nearly 20 billion barrels to peak at 672.1 billion barrels at the beginning of 2009 compared with around 652.4 billion at the end of 2002.