New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to withdraw from OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance, a move that is set to take effect on Friday and that the country says reflects its own long-term priorities rather than bloc politics. A statement carried by state media on Tuesday said the step aligns with “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile.”
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It added, “During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The announcement comes at a moment when the US-Israel war on Iran has triggered a historic energy shock and added fresh strain to the global economy.
The UAE’s exit is likely to unsettle OPEC, which has long tried to project unity even as internal tensions have surfaced over geopolitics and production quotas.
As one of the group’s longstanding members, the UAE’s departure could weaken the cartel’s influence at a time when global oil markets are already under pressure. The oil-exporting bloc has also seen its market power erode in recent years as US crude output has expanded.
The UAE first joined OPEC through Abu Dhabi in 1967, before the country became a separate nation in 1971.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision followed a close review of the country’s energy strategy. He said the UAE had not raised the matter with any other country, including Saudi Arabia.
“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production,” the minister told the Reuters news agency.
In a separate Reuters interview, he said the country had examined its energy strategies before deciding to leave. He also said the world would need more energy, suggesting the UAE was positioning itself to meet that demand.
The UAE’s move comes as Gulf producers struggle to move exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage between Iran and Oman through which about one fifth of the world’s crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) normally flows.
Threats and attacks on vessels during the war have already disrupted shipping through the chokepoint, adding to market anxiety. Mazrouei said he did not expect an immediate market shock from the UAE’s departure because of those shipping constraints.
Oil prices trimmed earlier gains on Tuesday after the announcement that the UAE would leave OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1.
The departure also lands against a backdrop of recurring criticism from United States President Donald Trump, who has accused OPEC of “ripping off the rest of the world” by pushing oil prices higher.
Trump has also tied US military support for Gulf states to oil pricing, saying that while the US defends OPEC members, they “exploit this by imposing high oil prices.”
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic and regional issues, particularly in the Red Sea region. Both countries were part of the coalition formed in 2015 to fight Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. But relations deteriorated in late December after Saudi Arabia bombed what it said was a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
The UAE’s withdrawal marks a significant change for the producer group, according to Rystad Energy. “Losing 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’s hands,” Rystad Energy’s head of geopolitical analysis, Jorge Leon, said in a statement.
“With 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,” he continued.
“Saudi 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.”
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The UAE’s exit is expected to widen the pressure on OPEC+ at a time when the group’s share of global output is already falling. According to the International Energy Agency, OPEC+ accounted for 44 percent of global oil production in March, down from about 48 percent in February.
The agency said the share is likely to fall further in April as production shut-ins deepen, and could drop again in May once the UAE formally leaves the group.
