Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Oil prices continue to increase amid pledges by major producers to cut production, while Bahrain's oil revenues continue to surge, but who's benefiting from this increase?

To date, the ruling Al Khalifa family has received at least one billion and 700 million dollars as a result of the rise in oil prices, and as a result of the adoption of an unfair price per barrel in the draft general budget that was approved by parliament without hesitation.

The government and parliament have approved two draft budgets based on $60 per oil barrel, while the average price of oil up until this month stands at about $80, meaning that the government earns $20 in each oil barrel it sells.

Oil revenues account for about two-thirds of the state's revenues of $8 billion and $200 million in 2023.

According to all these figures, the government has so far managed to cover the planned budget deficit by about one billion and 375 million dinars only, and recorded financial savings of about $225 million.

The ruling family doesn't talk about these figures in the Ministry of Finance data, because it wants to portray the state budget as always being in debt in the face of people's demands to improve their livelihoods and implement vital projects, such as schools and hospitals.

The ruling family also prevents the Shura Council and the Cabinet from discussing such figures, as oil revenues are classified as revenues belonging to the family alone, as it reserves for itself the right to have knowledge of these figures and the aspects of disbursement of revenues.

The real state budget is approved by the family, which it discusses it far from the Bahraini parliament and public opinion, as the accurate revenues of the state in the draft budget that was approved in Riffa, not in Gudaibiya.

This increase is only in the oil revenues announced by the government, which is the revenue from the sale of crude oil, while revenues from the pipeline linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are not included in the draft budget that is presented to parliament.

The ruling family does not believe in sharing wealth or decision-making. While everything belongs to the state in countries around the world, they belong to Al Khalifa only in Bahrain, as it deems wealth belongs to it and believes that it is entitled to make use of it anyway it likes.

Arabic Version