Oil producer Oman's trade surplus more than quadrupled to RO493.7 million ($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 UAE.

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 RO459.4 million 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 RO1.069 billion in January this year, after a 27.4 per cent rise in the previous month, the economy ministry's preliminary data showed.

Imports fell 22.0 per cent to RO575.2 million compared with an 18.5 per cent decline in December, the data showed.

Crude exports, which account for more than 57 per cent of overall exports, surged 47.5 per cent year-on-year in money terms in January.

Oman, which is producing around 850,000 barrels of oil a day, sold its crude at an average price of $77.64 a barrel in January, up 55.4 per cent from a year ago. US benchmark crude traded above $75 a barrel on Tuesday. – Reuters