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United Arab Emirates

April 29, 2026

Abu Dhabi 10:38 am

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Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

The UAE accounts for 12% of OPEC's output, but tensions had been simmering over intragroup rivalries and the country wanting to export more oil.

United Arab Emirates

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

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Last Updated: April 28, 2026, 8:54 am

UAE to leave OPEC on May 1

Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

UAE’s cash request tests US ties as Iran war strains Gulf financial muscle

A view of Dubai Marina in Dubai on March 3, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

IEA delivers grim gas supply forecast as oil notches 15% weekly rise

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a LNG berth in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, prefecture April 8, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Mohammed Soliman

In Washington, DC, reporting on Gulf politics

Qatar seeks increasing development projects in Africa

Qatar is increasing its investments and aid to Somalia, with plans to expand more in West Africa in the future.

Tensions between Saudi, UAE allies threaten government in south Yemen

The Saudi Arabia-UAE coalition intervened in the war in Yemen to restore the government’s seat in Sanaa, but today fighting between proxies for Riyadh and Abu Dhabi could topple the same government in the temporary capital of Aden.

U.S. President Donald Trump stands behind a U.S. Space Command flag with Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper at an event to officially launch the United States Space Command in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RC1E707D9440

Pentagon touts Space Command as boon to Middle East role

The Donald Trump administration's launch of a Pentagon command to defend US space orbiting satellites could give Middle East commanders a boost in protecting their eyes and ears on the battlefield.

UAE Navy boats are seen next to Al Marzoqah, Saudi Arabian tanker, off the Port of Fujairah, UAE May 13, 2019.REUTERS/Satish Kumar - RC1AA0D0CE30

Despite heightened regional tensions, UAE seeks de-escalation with Iran

The UAE government has been taking steps toward easing tensions with Iran as a safety precaution in the event of a major military conflict between Tehran and Washington.

United Arab Emirates

Aden standoff puts Hadi's legitimacy at stake

The seizure of Aden by Yemeni separatists threatens to fracture the Saudi-led coalition.

Southern Yemeni women enter storm of politics, war

Many women in Yemen's south would like to see a return of the more progressive rights they enjoyed before Yemen's north and south merged in 1990; could the Southern Transitional Council's gains against the Hadi government in Aden help bring this about?

Do Saudi Arabia, UAE seek perpetual chaos in Yemen?

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seeking to divide power and influence in Yemen, which is clear following the recent UAE-backed advances of the southern separatists' militia amid Saudi silence.

How Russia maneuvers between Saudi Arabia, UAE in Yemen

Moscow exercises hedging strategy in Yemen to preserve good times with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson conducts flight operations while underway in the Arabian Gulf in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated April 4, 2011. He may have been America's enemy number one, but after U.S. forces killed him in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was afforded Islamic religious rites by the U.S. military as part of his surprise at-sea burial on Monday. The body was transported to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which brought him to his final resting place somewhere in the north

Putin’s Gulf security plan depends on Trump

The Russian president plans to roll out his regional initiative to calm Gulf tensions next month — but are the United States and the EU ready to let Putin step up in the Gulf?

Iran reaffirms support for Houthis as rift splits Saudi coalition

Iran's supreme leader has called on Yemen's Houthi rebels to put up tougher resistance to what he deems a Saudi-Emirati conspiracy to partition the war-ravaged country.

Members of UAE-backed southern Yemeni separatist forces patrol a road during clashes with government forces in Aden, Yemen August 10, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman - RC14A6592690

Riyadh faces new setback in south Yemen

The loss of Aden is the latest in a long stream of strategic blunders in Yemen by the Saudi leadership.

UAE shifts course in Yemen

By cutting back its forces in Yemen, the UAE seeks to evade the material, humanitarian and moral consequences of the war all the while counting on its local agents to implement the UAE agenda in the country.