{"id":12506,"date":"2026-04-29T17:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=12506"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:01:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:01:12","slug":"uae-leaves-opec-in-blow-to-oil-cartel-during-war-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=12506","title":{"rendered":"UAE leaves OPEC in blow to oil cartel during war on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Mike Bain, Colin Ambler\/cvnznews.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Arab Emirates has chosen to depart from OPEC and OPEC+ to prioritize its national interests. This strategic decision impacts the oil-exporting groups amidst the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has generated a substantial energy shock and destabilized the global economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective Friday, the move demonstrates the UAE’s strategic long-term economic vision and its evolving energy profile, according to a statement released by state media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,\u201d it added. \u201cHowever, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Announcement of its exit on Friday comes as Gulf producers are already struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The UAE’s departure would destabilize OPEC and undermine the cartel’s ability to present a unified position, exposing internal divisions on critical matters from geopolitics to production quotas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power\u2019s energy strategies. Asked whether the UAE consulted with OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia, he said the UAE did not raise the issue with \u200cany other country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production,\u201d the minister told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OPEC\u2019s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a \u200cnarrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world\u2019s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United States President Donald Trump has previously accused OPEC of \u201cripping off the rest of the world\u201d by inflating oil \u2060prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has also linked US military support for \u2060the Gulf with oil prices, saying that while the US defends OPEC members, they \u201cexploit this by imposing high oil prices\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"INTERACTIVE<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
War on Iran: How the Strait of Hormuz crisis boosts Russia\u2019s economic leverage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy research company Rystad Energy said the UAE\u2019s withdrawal marks a significant shift for the oil-producing group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLosing a member with 4.8 million barrels per day of capacity, and the ambition to produce more, takes a real tool out of the group\u2019s hands,\u201d Rystad Energy\u2019s head of geopolitical analysis, Jorge Leon, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith demand nearing a peak, the calculation for producers with low-cost barrels is changing fast, and waiting your turn inside a quota system starts to look like leaving money on the table,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaudi Arabia is now left doing more of the heavy lifting on price stability, and the market loses one of the few shock absorbers it had left.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Bain, Colin Ambler\/cvnznews.com. The United Arab Emirates has chosen to depart from OPEC and OPEC+ to prioritize its national interests. This strategic decision impacts the oil-exporting groups amidst the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which has generated a substantial energy shock and destabilized the global economy. Effective Friday, the move demonstrates the UAE’s strategic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[913,178,1080],"coauthors":[709,446],"class_list":{"0":"post-12506","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-2","8":"tag-fuel-crisis","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-opec"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12509,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12506\/revisions\/12509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12506"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}