There's no arguing a strong 2010 recovery for OPEC earnings.

OPEC's export earnings from crude oil are already up by $161 billion year-over-year according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) based on the ten months through October, reports Hellenic Shipping News.

Earnings are on track to be $177 billion higher in 2010 than in 2009, which amounts to nearly a 40% increase over 2009 earnings of $452 billion.

Thank oil prices, which rebounded sharply to above $80 now from near-$40 levels during 2009.

Meanwhile, the Paris-based International Energy Association (IEA) has recently forecast that OPEC will become increasingly more dominant in the oil market as non-OPEC producers fail to increase their production output over the next few decades.