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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

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

Pistachio prices rose to around $4.57 a pound in March, their highest since 2018, according to data company Expana.

Latest News

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.

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Which airlines are cutting flights amid Hormuz fuel disruption?

Refueling trucks are seen at Southend Airport on April 17, 2026, in Southend, England.

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

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Dubai's Stock Market Exchange is pictured on a skyscraper.

UAE becomes observer in Asian money laundering group

The move follows the UAE being added to a financial watchdog’s list of countries with deficiencies in countering money laundering.

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Public Investment Fund reports $11 billion loss for 2022

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund reports its assets have risen from $676 billion to about $778 billion in 2022 in a rare gesture of transparency for the Gulf.

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud arrives for the 186th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna on June 3, 2023. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

OPEC oil export revenues surpass $870 billion, highest in decade

The revenues from the Organization of Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries peaked in 2012, when they reached $1.2 trillion.

TOPSHOT - A Saudi man talks on his mobile under the shade of solar panel at a solar plant in Uyayna, north of Riyadh, on March 29, 2018. On March 27, Saudi announced a deal with Japan's SoftBank to build the world's biggest solar plant. / AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

The future of renewable energy generation in the Gulf

There is a global race to build clean energy infrastructure, and the Gulf states are excelling as key competitors in this race.

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

Egypt state-owned

Egypt receives $1.9 billion from sale of state-owned companies

Egypt started selling state-owned entities in response to its economic crisis. Gulf states have hinted that they may not support Egypt as much as they have in the past.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 11: Chief Operating Officer of the PGA Tour Ron Price arrives for a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations hearing examining the business deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia's LIV Golf on Capitol Hill July 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. In early June, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced plans for a framework agreement to create a new global golf entity, which will be heavily funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. (Photo by Dr

Congress grills PGA Tour on relationship with Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf

US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who led the hearing on the deal between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the US golf circuit, told Al-Monitor that many questions remain unanswered.

Shopkeepers fix the price tags of rice at a market in Karachi on Jan. 6, 2023.

Pakistan thanks 'brotherly' Saudis for $2 billion ahead of IMF bailout decision

Pakistan received Saudi Arabia's $2 billion deposit a day before the International Monetary Fund is expected to approve a $3 billion bailout on Wednesday that the country desperately needs.

Patrick Baldwin #7 of Washington Wizards is defended by Ben Sheppard #26 of Indiana Pacers during the first quarter of a 2023 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 08, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)

Qatar Investment Authority buys 5% of NBA's Washington Wizards owner

It is the first investment by a sovereign wealth fund in a US sport and the latest move by a Gulf state to increase its influence in sports.

This picture taken on September 12, 2021 shows a view of the company offices of "al-Gameya", a tech startup the runs an app to facilitate for strangers to create an informal money-pooling association to provide access for money in time of need, points a screen showing to the application's online portal at the company offices, in Egypts capital Cairo. - Cash-strapped Egyptians fearful of banks have long relied on a "gameya" to access money in time of need, but now tech startups are cashing in on the practice

Egypt’s startup ecosystem tests its resilience amid economic turbulence

Egypt’s startup scene has shown its resilience amid severe economic woes.

Marc Español

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (2R), Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi (2L) arrive for a joint press conference following a meeting of Sergei Lavrov with his counterparts of the GCC member states in Moscow on July 10, 2023. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In Moscow, Russia's Lavrov welcomes Gulf states' rapprochement with Iran

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and GCC countries will expand their cooperation together in areas of economic trade, defense, security, energy and politics.

exterior of the headquarters of the Bank of Israel, the country's central bank, in Kiryat Ben-Gurion in Jerusalem.

Israel pauses interest rate hikes, first time in a year

The Bank of Israel signaled it could raise rates in the future, as inflation remains above the target range.

Basra Oil Company's Director General Bassem Abdul Karim (R).

In Iraq and Algeria, TotalEnergies signs major deals

The deal between Iraq and TotalEnergies has been delayed for years and aims to help Iraq fix its longstanding power issues.