Middle Eastern states like Saudi Arabia will get a $1.3 trillion windfall from soaring oil prices, the IMF says

Middle Eastern states like Saudi Arabia will get a $1.3 trillion windfall from soaring oil prices, the IMF says

Middle Eastern states such as Saudi Arabia are set for a $1.3 trillion windfall from high oil prices, the IMF said.

The Ukraine war-driven price jump will deliver the extra money over the next four years, it told the FT.

Brent crude has averaged $104 a barrel this year, up from $71 in 2021, and hit as high as $139 in March.

Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia are set to reap a more-than-$1 trillion windfall from the recent surge in oil prices, according to an International Monetary Fund official.

The region's exporters can expect to pull in a cumulative total of $1.3 trillion in additional oil revenue over the next four years, Jihad Azour said, according to a Financial Times report Friday. That's compared with the level expected before Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Oil prices jumped in the wake of the invasion, and Western governments responded with tough sanctions on Russia, one of the world's most important commodities producers.

The price of Brent crude oil has averaged $104 a barrel this year, up from $71 in 2021. The global benchmark shot as high as $139 a barrel after the invasion, though it has since fallen sharply to around $95 as concerns about