THE United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that it will leave the oil cartel OPEC and its wider OPEC+ group effective May 1, a move rumoured for some time as the Emirates chafed under production restrictions and had increasingly frosty relations with neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The UAE had been a longtime member of OPEC, first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when the UAE became its own country in 1971.

 

“This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and reinforces its commitment to a responsible, reliable, and forward-looking role in global energy markets,” the UAE said.