The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on the 28th (local time) that it will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC+ starting on the 1st of next month.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Energy, said in an interview with Reuters that the decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+ was "made after carefully reviewing our strategy in the energy and oil institutional sector."
Minister Al Jaber said, "Strategically, we are facing an unprecedented situation in which crude oil stockpiles are being depleted to a critically low level," and added, "The UAE has long been a member of OPEC and OPEC+, but global energy demand will increase further going forward." He continued, "We determined that now is the right time to consider decisions on policy direction."
OPEC is a consultative body in which major oil-producing countries, centered in the Middle East, participate to control international crude oil production and supply, exerting significant influence on oil prices. Through the Middle East wars of the 1970s and the first and second oil shocks, it greatly strengthened its price-setting power in the global energy market.
The UAE produces about 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, less than Saudi Arabia (about 10 million barrels), Iraq (about 4.3 million barrels), and Iran (about 3.5 million barrels), but similar to Kuwait.
With the UAE's withdrawal, some analysts say the influence of major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia could shift to some extent.