WASHINGTON - Falling global oil demand and lower crude prices are expected to drop OPEC's oil export revenues below $400 billion for 2009, the U.S. government's top energy forecasting agency said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowered its estimate for OPEC's oil export earnings for this year to $383 billion, about $19 billion less than the agency forecast last month.
That would be far less than last year's record $970 billion in revenue for the producer group. OPEC is forecast to earn $503 billion in 2010 as the global economy recovers and oil demand increases, the EIA said.
Last summer, when oil was trading around a record $147 a barrel, the agency projected that OPEC would make $1.3 trillion this year from crude exports.
However, a weak global economy has reduced oil demand and pushed crude below $40 a barrel. In its latest monthly energy forecast on Tuesday, the EIA revised down 2009 global oil demand by another 430,000 barrels per day.
OPEC members have cut their production to try to keep oil prices from falling.
OPEC members meet on March 15 to decide whether further production cuts are needed on top of the 4.2 million barrels per day they have already agreed to slash in an effort to prop up crude prices.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowered its estimate for OPEC's oil export earnings for this year to $383 billion, about $19 billion less than the agency forecast last month.
That would be far less than last year's record $970 billion in revenue for the producer group. OPEC is forecast to earn $503 billion in 2010 as the global economy recovers and oil demand increases, the EIA said.
Last summer, when oil was trading around a record $147 a barrel, the agency projected that OPEC would make $1.3 trillion this year from crude exports.
However, a weak global economy has reduced oil demand and pushed crude below $40 a barrel. In its latest monthly energy forecast on Tuesday, the EIA revised down 2009 global oil demand by another 430,000 barrels per day.
OPEC members have cut their production to try to keep oil prices from falling.
OPEC members meet on March 15 to decide whether further production cuts are needed on top of the 4.2 million barrels per day they have already agreed to slash in an effort to prop up crude prices.
