The windfall will provide fresh capital to some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the most influential members of the cartel, are home to three of the world’s 10 largest SWFs by assets under management, according to estimates by the SWF Institute.

With one trading day left before the year-end, Brent oil prices are on the point of seeing an average for the year of about $111.5 a barrel, higher than the previous all-time high set in 2011 of $110.9.

The benchmark closed at or above $100 every trading day in 2012, bar 24 in June and early July.

In January, Ali Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said that the world’s largest oil producer aimed to keep oil prices at the triple-digit level throughout 2012. “If we are able as producers and consumers to average $100 I think the world economy would be in better shape,” Mr Naimi told CNN at the time.

The record run of $100-plus oil prices, coupled with strong production in the first half of the year, lifted Opec’s net oil export revenues to a peak of $1,052bn in nominal terms, up 2.5 per cent from last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy. A decade ago, Opec countries made just under $200bn selling their oil.

In real terms, adjusted for inflation, Opec’s revenues in 2012 were also the highest ever, surpassing the peaks set during the oil crises of 1973-74 and 1979-81.

The huge revenue windfall has been unevenly distributed among the members of the cartel, which controls roughly 40 per cent of the world’s oil supplies. Iran took a smaller-than-usual share of the pot as US and European sanctions crippled its energy industry, pushing down its oil production to a 32-year low. Between January and November, Iran earned only 6.5 per cent of Opec’s total net revenues, down from a a share of 9-10 per cent during most of the 2000s.

The shortage of Iranian oil helped Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE to pump more, profiting from record annual prices. Also, Libya’s oil earnings recovered in 2012 from the slump triggered by the 2011 civil war.

The huge inflows will shore up the finances of the 12-member group, particularly as some Middle East countries lift social spending on the wake of the Arab Spring.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that Riyadh and Abu Dhabi both need oil prices at about $80 a barrel to balance their budgets. Only a decade ago they were able to balance their budgets with oil prices averaging $25.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, left its forecast for growth in world demand in 2013 almost unchanged, reducing it by 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 770,000 bpd. But it said a larger reduction may follow.

"The forecast oil demand growth has a notable downside risk, especially in the first half of the year," said the monthly report from OPEC's Vienna headquarters. "Much of this risk is attributed to not only the OECD, but also China and India.

" OPEC, which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, reiterated a warning it first made this summer that factors including economic weakness could shave 20 percent from next year's global demand growth assessment.

The report follows the release of OPEC's annual long-term outlook on Thursday, which said the world would need less OPEC oil in the next few years due to lower demand expectations and higher supply from outside the group, including of shale oil.

OPEC's monthly report sees a similar trend next year and reduced its estimate of the demand for OPEC crude by 80,000 bpd to 29.72 million bpd, a drop from this year and below OPEC's current production.

The group's production fell by 67,000 bpd in October to 30.95 million bpd, according to secondary sources cited by the report, led by declines in output in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

OPEC's report is the second of this month's trio of major oil outlooks to emerge. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration, often more bullish on demand than OPEC, on Tuesday reduced its 2013 global demand growth estimate by 30,000 bpd to 890,000 bpd.

Over the given period, Gazprom got a profit of 44.459 billion dollars. None of the world companies didn’t manage to work so effectively last year.
 

The biggest US oil company Exxon Mobil ranks second according to the given index. It got in 2011 the profit of 41.60 billion dollars. The Chinese bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China with a profit of 32.214 billion dollars ranks third on the list.

Faced with volatile oil price, which dropped sharply ahead of the meeting, member states agreed that for now, leaving the supply of crude to the market unchanged would be the best course of action.

Opec cannot react to short-term movements in the market. Its chief objective is to achieve price stability at levels which are sustainable for its member states and global economy. Some member states have put this at $100 (Dh367.8) a barrel, in part to cover new investment in production capacity and meet national budget targets.

Oil price stability is as important for global economy as is its cost. Volatile prices damages consumer and investment confidence and makes it difficult for businesses to budget for sustainable growth the world needs.

Since OPEC accounts for the bulk of the world's oil exports, the exact level of its production is vital information for traders, consumers and governments. The trouble is that finding that number is no easy task due to a dearth of timely official information.
 

On Thursday for the first time in more than a decade, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries issued a set of production figures as reported to its Vienna Secretariat by member-countries.

OPEC has for years used figures from secondary sources to monitor its output, a legacy of past disputes over members' output numbers. Thursday's report also included those figures.

The two sets showed some notable differences.
 

"It highlights the need for continued questioning on why these numbers are different," said Samuel Ciszuk, a consultant at KBC Energy Economics.
 

"I am surprised the OPEC Secretariat took this step as it will highlight uncomfortable truths for some of the member-countries."
 

The secondary sources, including consultants and industry media, put OPEC production in March at 31.31 million barrels per day (bpd), up from February and 1.31 million bpd above OPEC's own target, despite lower Iranian production.
 

March data from the member-countries is incomplete because Algeria and Ecuador have not given figures. For February, the figures from all the countries put OPEC output at 32.11 million bpd, exceeding the level from secondary sources by almost 1 million bpd.

The March numbers highlight contrasting views of the impact on Iran's production from tightening sanctions on Tehran. Iranian output slipped in March to 3.35 million bpd, according to the secondary sources.
 

But according to the OPEC figures, Iran reported its output was steady in March at 3.76 million bpd and has risen so far in 2012, effectively denying that supply has fallen.
 

The figures also show some long-standing output claims by OPEC members at different levels than estimated by the secondary sources.
 

For example, Venezuela told OPEC it pumped 2.82 million bpd in March, while the secondary sources estimated production at 2.38 million bpd.

Caracas has long argued that its output recovered from a strike at state oil firm PDVSA in late 2002 to 2003, a view questioned by some analysts.
 

According to the OPEC figures, Kuwait reported production was running above 3 million bpd, higher than many other estimates.
 

Supply from all 12 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has averaged 31.23 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 30.95 million bpd in January, the survey of sources at oil companies, OPEC officials and analysts found.

The survey suggests OPEC is producing over 1.2 million bpd more than its target of 30 million bpd. But concern about possible disruption to supply from OPEC member Iran is supporting prices, which are near a 10-month high.

"There is a lot of oil supply, but it doesn’t matter at the moment," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. "Other factors are driving prices up – the fear of longer-lasting supply disruptions which have not happened yet."

In February, the biggest increase in OPEC supply once again came from Libya, where output continues to recover after being virtually shut down during the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

February’s total is OPEC’s highest since October 2008, shortly before the group agreed to a series of supply curbs to combat recession, based on Reuters surveys.

Libyan crude oil exports and refinery demand climbed to 1.1 million bpd in February, up from 930,000 bpd in January, according to the survey, getting closer to the pre-war rate of 1.6 million bpd expected later this year.

Supply from Angola, which fell in the last few months, also rose in February as the shorter month increased the daily rate.

Oil prices were trading below $122 a barrel on Wednesday, having reached a 10-month high above $125 on Friday.

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Gulf Arab OPEC producers were expected in 2012 gradually to cut back the extra supplies they put on the market last year to counter the Libyan supply loss.

Instead, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is boosting output, sources in the survey said. Oil traders say the kingdom has indicated to its customers that it is able to supply extra crude if they need it.

The United Arab Emirates has trimmed supplies to customers in February, but is expected to supply full contractual amounts to buyers in Asia next month. Kuwait shipped slightly fewer barrels in February, the survey found.

Output in Iran, which is facing a European Union ban on its crude from July 1, has not fallen significantly in February, according to an Iranian official and oil industry sources outside the country.

Iran’s top oil buyers in Europe are making substantial cuts in supply for March loading, industry sources have said, and it is not yet clear where Iran will sell the displaced crude.

Supply in Iraq, expected to rise this year, has yet to do so, the survey found. Bad weather has delayed the startup of a new Gulf crude export facility that will allow a 300,000 bpd boost in Iraqi exports.

OPEC at a meeting in December adopted a target to produce 30 million bpd, settling an argument which broke out in 2011 after Iran and other members opposed a Saudi-led plan to raise OPEC’s production ceiling.

Supply from all 12 Opec members averaged 30.74 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, up from a revised 30.62m bpd in November, the survey of sources at oil companies, Opec officials and analysts found.

It indicates Opec, source of more than a third of the world’s oil, is producing more than the target of 30m bpd it adopted at a December 14 meeting, as oil prices above $100 a barrel provide little incentive for supply cuts.

In December, the biggest increase in Opec supply came from Libya, where production continues to recover after being shut down during the uprising which toppled Muammar Gadaffi.

"It’s surprising how successful the Libyans have been so far," said Samuel Ciszuk, consultant at KBC Energy Economics.

Libyan oil exports and refinery demand climbed to 750,000 bpd in December, up 250,000 bpd from November but short of the production figures given by officials.

The survey provides little evidence Opec producers are curbing output drastically to make way for increased Libyan output.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Opec allies raised production in the second half of 2011 after failing to convince Iran and other members to agree to a co-ordinated increase to meet the shortfall in supplies from Libya.

Opec settled the six-month-old argument at its December meeting in Vienna by adopting the 30m bpd target.

However, analysts said that without defined individual national quotas, leakage above the new limit remains very possible.

In November, supply from Saudi Arabia was revised 350,000 bpd higher to 9.8m bpd as it shipped more crude to Asia. In December, output dipped slightly.

"In November, there was a very sharp uptick and what I saw in December was practically no change, a small reduction maybe," a shipping industry source said.

Kuwait increased production in December and supply nudged higher in the UAE. The survey has lower estimates of Kuwaiti supply than Kuwaiti officials, who say the country is pumping 3m bpd or more.

Venezuelan output was pegged slightly higher.

Allaw  who chaired  the Syrian delegation participating in the meetings of the Arab oil ministers in Cairo said in a statement to SANA: This award is announced by the organization each year through the identification of addresses, and specific research, where he won second place from Syria equally Dr Khaled Khalaf of workers in the Syrian Oil Company and Dr. Musab Al-Bareidi  from Al-Baath University for research investment and subsidized oil production.

Allaw  stressed the importance of this prize  because it comes under a lot of competition includes researchers from the oil-producing countries and have experts and specialists.

Allaw  has been in a meeting session of the 87 Council of Ministers of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting "OAPEC" in Cairo where  discussed several issues, including approving the budget of the Organization, which includes ten Arab countries producing oil next year’s modest increase for the current year budget in addition to the discussion of the studies prepared by organization during the last year and discussed the organization’s achievements during the last period, plans and programs for the next stage.

The Ministers approved the Arabs at the end of their meeting the draft budget for 2012 of $ 1,000,067 thousand dinars, and to extend the period of supervision of the Iraq Institute of Arab Petroleum Training for one year as of next January, as decided Almaetmr that Algeria is the presidency of the next session in 2012 with regard to the Council of Ministers and the Executive Office of the Organization OAPEC.

This meeting of the League held once each year as it was agreed to hold the next meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organization in Cairo in December of next year.

The agreement doesn’t include individual country quotas but it does cover the production of all 12 members, including Libya and Iraq.
The deal appears to overwrite the previous agreement, which was struck in Oran, Algeria, three years ago. It also appears to pull Iraq, which has been on the periphery of the group for years, back towards an eventual quota.

But it’s very short on detail. OPEC says that as Libyan production rises towards pre-uprising levels, other members will adjust output to accommodate these incremental volumes.

Earlier today, Libyan oil minister Abdelrahman Benyezza said output had now risen to 1 million b/d and would recover to 1.7 million b/d in the second half of next year. This means that OPEC members may need to rein in overall output to the tune of 700,000 b/d some time in the coming months.

Still, what’s a bit of detail, you may ask, when OPEC has avoided another spectacular bustup after the acrimonious split in June as Iran, Algeria and several other countries blocked a Saudi-led proposal to increase production. And when, at a time of deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the oil ministers of the two key OPEC producers have been able to come together on output policy.

"I really hope there will not be an EU embargo on Iranian oil," OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri said at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha.

"It will be very, very difficult to replace" the exports of this OPEC member, he said.

"Europe now is facing some difficulties… so to cut these 865,000 barrels a day immediately, I think it will be a problem," he said, apparently referring to Iran’s exports to all of Europe, as the EU imports only around 450,000 bpd from Iran, according to the International Energy Agency.

The EU last week piled up pressure on Tehran following an attack on the British embassy, beefing up sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme, while it threatened to hit its oil and finance sectors next.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels slapped sanctions on an extra 143 firms and 37 individuals, after the publication last month of a report on Iran’s nuclear sector by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The ministers threatened in a statement to "extend the scope" of punitive action to strike at Tehran’s economic heart.

It said the EU would examine measures targeting the financial system, energy and transport by late January.