On April 29, the UAE announced it would leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), ending nearly six decades of membership. The decision, effective May 1, removes one of the group’s largest producers.

OPEC traces its origins to September 1960, when representatives from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela gathered in Baghdad. At the time, the global oil industry was controlled largely by a consortium of Western companies known as the Seven Sisters. Producing countries had a limited say over how much oil was extracted, or at what price it was sold and revenues depended on decisions made elsewhere.

Seven OPEC+ countries have an agreement ​in principle to raise oil ‌output targets by about 188,000 ​barrels per day ⁠in June, pressing on with plans despite the departure of the ‌UAE, two sources familiar with OPEC+ thinking said ‌ahead of a ‌policy ⁠meeting on Sunday (May 3, 2026).

The increase ⁠is similar to last month’s hike of 206,000 bpd minus the ​share of ‌the United Arab Emirates, which, in a surprise announcement this week, said it would ‌leave the group from ​May 1. The decision signals that OPEC+ is ⁠pressing on with a business-as-usual approach, one source said earlier.

Although in recent years the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has frequently threatened to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), its actual announcement, on April 28, took observers by surprise. It was also conspicuous in its context. It provided only three days’ notice for exit from OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1, just five days before the next OPEC meeting. The decision was also counterintuitive to the ongoing double blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, staunching oil exports of the UAE and other Gulf states.

A subsequent Emirati official statement was elaborate but elliptical. It sought to both rationalise the decision aimed at pursuing national interest and reassure the stakeholders of its continued intention “to contribute to stability (of the oil market) in a measured and responsible manner”, promising “to bring additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner”.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced it is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the wider OPEC+ alliance, effective May 1. The move strips the oil cartel of one of its largest and most reliable producers, dealing a significant blow to group cohesion at a time when the ongoing U.S.-Israel war on Iran has triggered an energy shock and severely disrupted global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke point.

In a statement carried by state news agency WAM, the UAE described the decision as reflecting its “long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”. It cited the need for greater flexibility to invest in domestic energy production and respond independently to market conditions amid “near-term volatility”.