Oil revenues of the 11-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose 38 per cent in 1999 to $156 billion (€154 billion), mainly due to a 5 per cent cut in output, the weekly Petrostrategies said on Monday.

According to the specialist publication, the OPEC countries had revenues of $43 billion in 1998.

The average price of oil exported by the group rose 46.6 per cent to $17.3 per barrel in 1999, compared with $11.8 per barrel in 1998, it said.

The output squeeze, agreed for a year in March 1999, was largely responsible for helping prices more than double last year from historic lows of below $10 per barrel for Brent crude in February.