By Samantha McClellan
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced their decision to leave OPEC beginning on May 1st, 2026. OPEC stands for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The UAE first joined OPEC in 1967. The goal of this organization is to create agreements on what rate member states who are oil producers will sell their oil for. When supply is high oil is sold for lower rates and when supply is low, oil is sold for higher rates. The goal is to stabilize the international market for oil.
A reason the UAE may have left is due to the constraints with quotas that OPEC sets for its members. UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei emphasized that leaving offers the flexibility to meet global demand, aiming for a capacity of 5 million barrels per day by 2027. The UAE is the third biggest oil producing country in OPEC and with the high demand for oil in the market they may have felt like OPEC was holding them back in terms of the revenue they could be making without the constraints of OPEC.
Due to the war in Iran, it is unlikely that the UAE will immediately start selling oil at a higher capacity since the strait of Hormuz has been closed for eight weeks. It would not be until after the war where we can see if the UAE starts to sell more oil. It is not likely that other member states will follow in pursuit, but the UAE leaving OPEC is still a big hit to the organization because it can raise restrictions on the production of oil.