The UAE Will Exit OPEC After Nearly 60 Years

On May 1, the United Arab Emirates will end its a 59-year membership in the oil consortium, allowing it to raise output during one of the most volatile energy markets in years.

The UAE has announced that it will leave OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, ending a membership that began in 1967—four years before the UAE itself was founded as a country. This signals a turning point in the UAE's role in global energy.

The government statement, published on state news agency WAM, cited a comprehensive review of the country's production policy and capacity as the basis for the move, calling it a reflection of “the UAE's long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile."

The decision, it said, is rooted in national interest and a commitment to meeting what it described as the market's “pressing needs,” a reference to global demand that ...