Profitability Matrix for Select OPEC countries

Q & O blog ran across some interesting data from Forbes Magazine. Actually it is from PFC Consultants in Washington DC. It is a profitability matrix for select OPEC countries, showing how much money they must sell a barrel of oil for to make a profit, not just today, but next year and the year after as well as how much it USED to take to make a profit. The one country that is notably absent from the matrix is Russia. Granted they are not OPEC members, but it would be very telling I think if they were listed as well. It shows that both Iran and Venezuela are in a world of hurt right now. Both have heavily borrowed against their petro-dollars and now find themselves upside down on their profitability curves. That will have long term impacts on the governments of those two countries. I suspect Russia finds itself in the same boat which would explain the overt coziness Russia has shown towards both regimes. Point of reference, as of the moment, WTI Cushing spot price is at $63.58 a barrel.

OPEC Country	2000	2007	2008	2009	2010
Venezuela	26.54	81.01	90.96	99.88	102.68
Iran	12.42	49.73	57.32	86.33	83.31
Saudi Arabia	20.56	42.86	42.86	50.74	54.26
Kuwait	5.62	37.92	43.55	50.35	52.07
UAE	1.89	27.69	33.53	40.56	45.59
Algeria	21.24	14.27	16.85	17.94	30.85
Qatar	15.85	17.38	14.76	10.18	8.35