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United Arab Emirates

April 29, 2026

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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)

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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.

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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

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey in this December 1, 2014 file photo. Putin signed a decree imposing economic sanctions against Turkey on Saturday, four days after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/Files - RTX1W9MO

Will failed coup push Erdogan toward Iran, Russia?

The foiled coup in Turkey could lay the groundwork for closer ties with Russia and Iran, resulting in a Turkish turnabout in Syria.

A poster with an image of a soldier lies on his grave after he was killed by al Qaeda militants in the Wadi Hadramout region in northeastern Yemen, at a military cemetery in Sanaa August 10, 2014. An al Qaeda-affiliated group in Yemen said it killed 14 soldiers in an eastern province as revenge for an army offensive against its members, while a U.S. drone attack killed three suspected militants in central Yemen on Saturday, an official said. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILIT

What is the real challenge for Yemen's Hadrami Elite forces?

After Yemeni government forces took over Hadramaut governorate, which was under the AQAP’s control, the Hadrami Elite’s main challenge is to keep the Islamic State away from the governorate.

A Palestinian supporter of former head of Fatah in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, holds a poster depicting Dahlan during a protest against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City December 18, 2014. Dahlan, who lives in exile in the Gulf, is a powerful political foe of Abbas.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4IJ8R

UAE faces off against Palestinian Authority, again

The latent crisis between the UAE and the Palestinian Authority emerged again recently, after an article was published quoting an Emirati leader who described the PA as a failed and a corrupt entity.

United Arab Emirates

Shi'ite Bahraini men sit on a wall with graffiti that reads ''People want self-determination", as they attend a rally held by the Wefaq opposition party, in the village of Boori, south of Manama, October 14, 2011, to mark the 8-month anniversary of the February 14 uprising. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed (BAHRAIN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR2SO9O

What Bahrain’s opposition crackdown means for country’s Brotherhood

Manama’s exclusion of popular political groups from Bahrain’s political scene, accompanied by a wide crackdown on opposition figures, could lead to militancy gaining broader power and appeal in the Shiite opposition.

Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani attends the opening meeting of the Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 28, 2015. Arab League heads of state are holding a two-day summit to discuss a range of conflicts in the region, including Yemen and Libya, as well as the threat posed by Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RTR4V93X

Can Saudis ease Egypt-Qatar tension after Al Jazeera death sentences?

Saudis want to bridge the divide between Qatar and Egypt so that its Sunni coalition can focus on Iran.

Is it Eid or not? Muslims take step toward resolving calendar dispute

Religious representatives from Islamic countries agree to embrace a common calendar to overcome a long-standing conflict on the start of Ramadan, but their past record inspires little optimism for a genuine compromise.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks with Oman's Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said (L), Saudi Arabia's King Salman (2nd R) and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa (R) during the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2AYPD

Congress rolls out red carpet in Washington for jilted GCC

The Senate is getting ready to extend diplomatic courtesies to the Gulf Cooperation Council as it prepares to open a Washington office.

Will 'free financial center' lure foreign banks to Iran?

Iranian authorities are weighing whether to launch a free financial center to encourage capital inflow into the economy.

Erdogan, Davutoglu shed tears for Gaza, but do little else

Turkey as well as the oil-rich Gulf states have still not fulfilled their pledges to help with the reconstruction and development of Gaza.

Saudi-Iran rivalry spills into UN Human Rights Council

While Iran was unhappy with the renewal of Ahmed Shaheed’s mandate as special rapporteur for Iran, it appears to be even more irritated over how Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar voted in favor of the measure at the UN Human Rights Council.

A picture shows a view of the untouched Yemeni Island of Socotra, a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation, located in the northwestern Indian Ocean, some 350km south of the Arabian Peninsula on March 27, 2008. Socotra is the main island of an archipelago of the same name, sometimes referred to as "the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean." The island is historically famous for its unique and spectacular vegetation -- botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora

Welcome to one of the most exotic islands in the world

Socotra, a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean known for its vast biodiversity, seeks to regain its strategic role to support the country’s economy.

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Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al Khalid al Sabah, Qatar's Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah, Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and UAE'S Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (L-R) pose for a group photo during an extraordinary meeting in Riyadh January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al N

How united is the GCC?

While Gulf states may all be united under the Gulf Cooperation Council name, their individual policies on foreign intervention vary greatly.