Kuwait's earnings from oil in the first four months of the current fiscal year have hit 6.58 billion dollars, more than the 6.27 billion dollars projected for the entire year, a think-tank said Saturday.
The OPEC member calculated oil income in the current 2000/2001 fiscal year at a conservative price of 13 dollars a barrel, but sold its crude at an average price of 27.63 dollars between July and October, Al-Shall Economic Consultants said.
The emirate's OPEC production quota was raised to 2.141 barrels per day (bpd) at the beginning of November, but Al-Shall said Kuwait has, for some time, been producing at full capacity of 2.2 million bpd.
Al-Shall said if oil prices remain at current levels, which is doubtful, Kuwait would enjoy an even larger surplus than the one posted in the previous fiscal year.
Kuwait posted a gross surplus of four billion dollars in the 1999/2000 fiscal year which ended June 30, the largest since 1991 when the emirate was liberated from seven months of Iraqi occupation, and the second largest ever.
Kuwait's current fiscal year, which started on July 1 and ends on March 31, 2001, was reduced to nine months to bring it in line with an April 1 start. The budget projected a deficit of five billion dollars, on low oil prices -- KUWAIT CITY (AFP)
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