Nigeria and other member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, earned $873.6 billion from oil export in 2022.
The earnings which is about 54 percent rise against previous year, came as petroleum export revenues of the 13 member nations climbed to the highest in almost a decade last year on the back of Russia’s war on Ukraine which bolstered crude prices while key members ramped up production.
Crude soared last year as energy flows from Russia, which joined with the cartel in 2016 in a wider network known as OPEC+, were disrupted by international backlash against its military incursion into Ukraine.
Brent futures averaged about $99 a barrel, the highest since 2014.
The basket of crude grades typically sold by OPEC nations averaged just over $100 a barrel in 2022, while Bloomberg estimates show that crude production from its 13 states was roughly 29.2 million barrels a day. The figures for petroleum revenue also include sales of refined products.
OPEC’s earnings peaked at roughly $1.2 trillion in 2012, just as the use of hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — was unlocking a gusher of shale-oil in American states from Texas to North Dakota. The ensuing market crash spurred the Saudis and Russia, once fierce rivals, to form the OPEC+ coalition in 2016.