United Arab Emirates Quits OPEC Effective May 1 Amid Iran War And Strait Of Hormuz Tensions

The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of its third-largest producer and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices.

“DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will leave OPEC effective May 1, stripping the oil cartel of one of its largest producers and further weakening its leverage over global oil supplies and prices”

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The UAE said the move would be implemented through its state-run WAM news agency, and it also said it would leave the wider OPEC+ group, which Russia had led to try to stabilize oil prices.

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In the announcement, the UAE framed the decision as “This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production,” and added that it would bring “additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions.”

Multiple outlets tied the timing to the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz, noting that the Strait was closed and that supplies were constrained even as the UAE prepared to exit.

AP reported that world oil supplies are sharply constrained by the war in Iran, which has closed off the Strait of Hormuz, and that the UAE’s withdrawal “won’t necessarily have any immediate effects in markets.”

Reuters and other coverage in the provided material also emphasized that the UAE had been pushing back against OPEC production quotas it felt were too low, limiting how much oil it could sell.

The BBC described the UAE’s exit as “a very big deal,” pointing to the UAE’s spare capacity and its role as a swing producer, while CNBC reported that European stocks traded lower as investors weighed the UAE’s exit and its impact on the oil outlook.

Several reports connected the UAE’s exit to a long-running dispute over OPEC quotas and to the UAE’s desire to use expanded production capacity.

AP said the UAE’s decision had been rumored and that it had “pushed back in recent years against OPEC production quotas it felt had been too low,” meaning it “wasn’t able to sell as much oil to the world as it had wanted.”

Al Jazeera

The BBC similarly described how OPEC quotas limited the UAE’s production to “3-3.5 million barrels per day,” while the UAE wanted to be “unconstrained by any groups,” quoting Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei’s remarks to the New York Times.

DW framed the decision as a step by a producer ready to act independently, citing Jorge Leon of Rystad Energy saying, “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 [OPEC] hands.”

At the same time, the Strait of Hormuz crisis shaped expectations for how quickly any additional output could reach markets.

AP reported that the Strait of Hormuz closure constrained supplies, and it added that on Tuesday “Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded above $111 a barrel.”

CNBC echoed the market constraint, saying global flows remain “severely constrained by the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.”

NBC News also stressed that while the UAE would likely boost output after leaving OPEC, “with the Strait of Hormuz closed, it’s not clear how fast any increased production would be able to reach global markets.”

Beyond quotas and capacity, the provided reporting links the UAE’s exit to Gulf political tensions, especially with Saudi Arabia.

Al Jazeera argued that the UAE’s departure is “the visible sign of a deep regional rupture between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi,” and it described a qualitative shift in late 2025, including that “On December 29 , Saudi Arabian air strikes targeted an Emirati weapons convoy at the port of Mukalla in Yemen.”

Al Jazeera also said Riyadh demanded the withdrawal of all UAE forces from Yemeni territory and that “in early 2026, that call was answered with the dissolution of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Abu Dhabi’s principal proxy in the country.”

AP reported that the UAE had increasingly “frosty relations with Saudi Arabia” over political and economic matters, even after both came under attack by fellow OPEC member Iran during the war.

In contrast to the rivalry framing, AP quoted Emirati Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei insisting the decision did not stem from any dispute with Saudi Arabia, telling CNBC, “We’ve been working together for years and years. We have the highest respect for the Saudis for leading OPEC.”

NBC News also included the UAE’s statement that it would “continue to act responsibly, bringing additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions.”

The BBC’s analysis added that the timing “hints at consequences from the Iran war,” and it described the UAE’s relationship with Iran and its “already strained relationship with Saudi Arabia.”

In the same reporting set, DW said the UAE’s exit weakens Saudi Arabia’s leadership by removing spare capacity and forcing Saudi Arabia to rely more on its own production cuts to stabilize prices.

The reporting diverges on how much immediate market disruption the UAE exit should cause, even while agreeing that the Strait of Hormuz crisis dominates supply.

AP and BNN Bloomberg both said the withdrawal “won’t necessarily have any immediate effects in markets,” attributing that to the war in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz closure, and both cited Brent trading “above $111 a barrel.”

Al Jazeera

CNBC similarly focused on oil outlook complexity, saying the move “complicates the outlook for oil supply” because the UAE could boost output but “global flows remain severely constrained” by the Strait blockade.

NBC News, however, tied the broader market picture to price moves in U.S. crude and to the timing of Iran-related developments, noting that “U.S. crude oil surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time since April 10” and that Brent “jumped sharply” to “nearly $113 per barrel.”

The BBC’s analysis treated the exit as a structural blow to OPEC’s coherence, emphasizing that the UAE was “the second highest spare production capacity” and that OPEC quotas limited it to “3-3.5 million barrels per day.”

DW’s framing was more explicitly about Saudi leadership, saying the UAE’s exit removes spare capacity and leaves Saudi Arabia unable to “easily share the burden of output adjustments.”

Al Jazeera’s framing went further, arguing that the UAE exit is “above all, the visible sign” of a Gulf rupture and that the departure reduces OPEC to “an increasingly unrepresentative instrument, increasingly identified with Saudi interests alone.”

Even within the same event coverage, the stakes were described differently: CNBC highlighted European equities and earnings, while NBC News and CNBC both linked the exit to oil price levels and to the Strait of Hormuz’s status.

The exit’s consequences, as described across the provided reporting, center on OPEC’s ability to stabilize prices and on how quickly the UAE can add barrels once the Strait of Hormuz situation changes.

“For decades, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) functioned as far more than an oil cartel”

Al Jazeera

AP quoted Rystad Energy’s Jorge Leon saying that the UAE’s withdrawal removes one of OPEC’s few members with the ability to quickly increase production, warning that “A structurally weaker OPEC, with less spare capacity concentrated within the group, will find it increasingly difficult to calibrate supply and stabilize prices.”

Al Jazeera

DW similarly said the UAE’s exit removes one of the few members with meaningful spare oil capacity, leaving Saudi Arabia to rely more on its own cuts and making defending oil prices “more expensive and less effective for Riyadh.”

NBC News described the UAE’s exit as “a structurally weaker OPEC,” quoting Rystad energy analyst Jorge Leon that “While near-term effects may be muted given ongoing disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, the longer-term implication is a structurally weaker OPEC.”

The BBC’s analysis warned that the UAE’s ability to target “5 million barrels per day production” could lead to an oil price war, and it said “Much depends on the Saudi response.”

Al Jazeera argued that the “real loser” is the idea of collective Arab fuel-producing states shaping global energy order, saying each departure “reduces the organisation to an increasingly unrepresentative instrument, increasingly identified with Saudi interests alone.”

Beyond OPEC itself, the reporting also tracked market and corporate ripple effects, with CNBC noting that European stocks were down and that Adidas shares “popped 8.5% after the German sportswear giant's first-quarter earnings beat,” even as investors weighed oil outlook.

In the background of the exit, NBC News and other outlets also described ongoing disruptions and price forecasts, including Goldman Sachs raising its forecast and Citi hiking its oil price forecast, with Goldman Sachs expecting “a slower production recovery, with risks skewed to a more persistent supply shock and higher prices.”