Budgeting: Practical Problem

In the Gulf Times newspaper last week there was an article relating to the State budget for Qatar for 2011. What they said was that the budget for that year had been based on an average crude oil price of $55 per barrel. Over the year the average price of crude oil on the commodities markets was $112.83 per barrel. Imagine the implications for a company, let alone a country, of one's selling prices being around 105% greater than one had previously budgeted. I understand from a conversation today that Saudi Arabia's State budget was based on a crude oil price of $74 for 2011 ... the same applies to them as to Qatar except that the difference between actual and budget is not so high. Just goes to show that the Beyond Budgeting Round Table people have made some fair points in their time! Duncan Williamson