Oman's trade surplus quadruples in Jan on oil price jump

Oil producer Oman's trade surplus more than quadrupled to 493.7 million rials ($1.28 billion) in January from a year ago as higher crude prices spurred a surge in exports, data showed on Tuesday. Last year, the global crisis slashed oil output across the Gulf, trimming the growth rates of key producers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Much smaller Oman was not as badly affected because as a non-OPEC member it did not have to follow the cartel's oil output cuts.The sultanate posted a trade surplus of 459.4 million rials in December 2009. A year ago, in January 2009, it recorded a 107.3 million surplus.Exports jumped 26.6 per cent year-on-year to 1.069 billion rials in January this year, after a 27.4 per cent rise in the previous month, the economy ministry's preliminary data showed.