UAE Announces Exit From OPEC

The United Arab Emirates informed OPEC of its decision to withdraw from the organization after 60 years of membership, effective at the start of May 2026. The cartel, which had 12 members prior to the departure, will be left with 11: Algeria, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

These remaining members account for around 33% of the world's crude oil output, about 46% of total petroleum traded internationally and roughly 73% of the world's proven oil reserves, according to data cited in multiple reports. In 2016, OPEC formed the wider OPEC+ alliance with 10 non-OPEC producers including Russia.

At its first meeting following the UAE's exit, OPEC+ agreed that members would increase production by 188,000 barrels per day from June 2026.

The UAE was the world's third biggest oil exporter in 2025, behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It produced around 3 million barrels per day that year while Saudi Arabia produced over nine million barrels per day. The UAE had held its production below 3 million barrels a day in 2024 in line with OPEC+ quotas.

Days after announcing its withdrawal, state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said it would accelerate growth through projects worth $55 billion between 2026 and 2028.

Global oil prices reached their highest level in four years on Thursday, rising above $126 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas usually travel, has been effectively closed for eight weeks. President Donald Trump has stated that OPEC has used its influence to keep prices higher by limiting supplies.

Historical context cited across the reporting includes the 1973 oil embargo and production cuts linked to support for Israel during the Yom Kippur war, after which oil prices more than doubled. A second oil shock occurred in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution.