UAE Leaves OPEC After 60 Years of Membership, Reducing Group to 11 Producers

The United Arab Emirates exited the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday after 60 years of membership, leaving the cartel with 11 members. OPEC had 12 members before the UAE's departure at the start of May 2026. The remaining members are Algeria, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

These OPEC 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. 5% in 1973.

In 2016, OPEC joined forces with 10 other oil producers, including Russia, to create the OPEC+ alliance. In its first meeting since the UAE left OPEC, OPEC+ decided members would increase production by 188,000 barrels per day from June 2026. The UAE was the world's third biggest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 2025, according to OPEC data.

1 million barrels of oil per day in 2025, while Saudi Arabia produced over nine million barrels per day in the same year. The UAE held its production at below 3 million barrels a day in 2024 at the behest of OPEC. Days after announcing its exit, state-owned oil company Adnoc announced acceleration of growth through projects worth $55 billion between 2026 and 2028.

Global oil prices reached the highest level in four years on Thursday, rising above $126 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for eight weeks as of the article date, through which about a fifth of the world's supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas usually travel. S.

President Donald Trump stated that OPEC has used its influence to keep prices higher by limiting supplies. S. over support for Israel during the Yom Kippur war, alongside a coordinated cut to oil production.

Oil prices more than doubled following the 1973 embargo and production cut. There was a second oil shock in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution. 7 million barrels of oil per day in 2020, representing a 10% cut to global oil demand.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, OPEC+ pledged to raise production slightly before slashing it later that year. S. 6 million barrels per day in 2025.

1 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2025. Maurizio Carulli, global energy analyst at Quilter Cheviot, said OPEC's influence on oil prices has 'varied' over the past few decades. He added that a historic difficulty for OPEC in influencing the oil price is that individual members 'often do not actually respect the commitment' and either produce more or less than agreed.

Michael Tamvakis, a commodities professor at Bayes Business School in London, said Saudi Arabia 'will fight back with a vengeance' in response to the UAE's exit. He added that in a postwar standoff, there is a real risk of a price war with unpredictable economic consequences.