United Arab Emirates intends to leave OPEC oil cartel
The United Arab Emirates has announced that it will leave oil cartel OPEC and its broader OPEC+ group effective May 1; It was a move that had been rumored for some time as the Emirate was upset by production restrictions and had increasingly frosty relations with neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The UAE has long been a member of OPEC, first through the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later in 1971 when the UAE became its own country.
However, the UAE is increasingly seeking to strengthen its own foreign policy in the Middle East, which over time has come into conflict with some of Riyadh’s positions; especially as Saudi Arabia began to directly challenge the Emirates in attracting foreign investment as the kingdom opened up to the assertive rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The UAE made the announcement through the state-run WAM news agency.
“This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and strengthens its commitment to a responsible, reliable and forward-looking role in global energy markets,” the UAE said in a statement on Tuesday. he said.
“Following its exit, the UAE will continue to act responsibly by bringing additional production to the market in a gradual and measured manner in line with demand and market conditions,” the country said. he said.
Saudi Arabia has long been seen as the heavyweight of OPEC, a Vienna-based oil cartel that has lost some market power as the United States increased crude oil production in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are increasingly competing over economic issues and regional policies, especially in the Red Sea region.
The two countries came together in a coalition in 2015 to fight Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
But that coalition broke down in December 2025 amid mutual recriminations after Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as an arms shipment to Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
Tensions have risen as Saudi broadcasters, long based in Dubai, the UAE’s economic hub, have retreated to the kingdom in recent months.
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