UAE to Leave OPEC and Wider Group Effective May 1, 2026

The United Arab Emirates will leave OPEC and what it describes as the wider OPEC alliance effective May 1, 2026, a move the government says is driven by national energy strategy rather than politics. Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei said the UAE’s decision is intended to give the country more flexibility over its oil production and to reduce the constraints it faces under group quotas.

OPEC’s member states have long managed supply through production limits that are intended to influence global pricing. The UAE’s exit removes the cartel’s third-largest producer and, according to analysts, about 15% of its capacity. Several reports characterized the departure as significant for OPEC’s ability to act as a coordinated “market manager,” because it reduces both the weight of participating barrels and the institutional cohesion of the arrangement.

UAE officials linked the pullout to internal strategic reviews that concluded OPEC quotas were actively constraining domestic industrial growth. That rationale ties directly to the country’s Make it in the Emirates manufacturing strategy, which aims to expand a domestic industrial base. Energy officials have argued that achieving...