(July 2): Opec said its oil revenues slumped by 18% last year, as crude prices cooled and the group embarked on new production cuts to balance global markets.

The group’s petroleum exports dropped by US$148.9 billion (RM703.1 billion) to US$679.7 billion in 2023, after a surge the previous year, Opec said in its Annual Statistical Bulletin on Tuesday.

Group leader Saudi Arabia — which shouldered the bulk of additional supply curbs — suffered the second-biggest drop in percentage terms, retreating by 24% to US$248.4 billion. Equatorial Guinea saw the biggest revenue drop, collapsing by 44% as its output plunged.

Brent crude futures averaged 17% lower in 2023, at about US$82 a barrel. Prices had climbed the previous year following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which is part of a wider coalition of producers known as Opec+.

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