BEIRUT — The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it would exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, along with the wider group of partners known as OPEC+, effective May 1, in what could be a blow to control over prices by the group, long led in practice by Saudi Arabia.
“We thank OPEC and its member countries for decades of constructive cooperation,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a post to social media.
The move “reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile” read an official statement carried by a UAE state news agency, as disruptions “in the Strait of Hormuz continues to affect supply dynamics.”
President Donald Trump has criticized OPEC for its role in determining global oil prices.
While tensions between the UAE and OPEC have been building, the move comes amid the Iran war global energy shock that has sent ripples through the world economy as a result of the near-closures of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks. The United States has imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports.
The UAE is the second Persian Gulf country to leave the group after Qatar terminated its membership in 2019. It has been a member of OPEC since 1971. Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven states that make up the UAE, independently joined OPEC in 1967 before the founding of the country.
The latest departure leaves in place 11 core members: Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.