Washington, August 13:

Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took in $642 billion in oil exports revenue during the first seven months of 2008 and may well eclipse the total amount from previous year, US Energy Department said.

Boosted by high oil prices and increased production, OPEC will likely set another record year in revenue on net oil exports. OP-EC’s revenue could exceed $1 trillion by the end of this year and continue to climb in 2009, according to projections by Energy Information Administration, number crunching agency for the Energy Department.

OPEC’s revenue was $671 billion in 2007, with Saudi Arabia raking in the most revenue at $194 billion.