The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced that it will withdraw from the OPEC and OPEC+ groupings on Friday to focus on “national interests”, the state-owned news agency WAM reported.
This came after energy prices escalated in light of the war in West Asia.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was founded in 1960 and comprises 12 countries, mainly from West Asia, that aim to coordinate petroleum policies and influence global oil prices. The UAE had joined the grouping in 1967.
OPEC+ is a broader alliance formed in 2016 that includes 10 other major non-OPEC producers to strengthen the group’s hold over global energy supply. This alliance, which also includes Russia, accounted for nearly 50% of global oil and oil liquids production in 2025.
However, this share fell to about 44% in March because of the war in West Asia, Reuters reported.
On Tuesday, the UAE government said in a statement that the decision to leave the OPEC and OPEC+ reflected its “long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, the news agency reported.
It also followed a “comprehensive review of the UAE’s production policy and its current and future capacity and is based on our national interest and our commitment to contributing effectively to meeting the market’s pressing needs”.
“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” the statement said. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The announcement came amid Iran effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels after the United States and Israel launched an attack on the country on February 28.
The blockade has triggered a global energy crisis. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.
An unidentified official from the UAE energy ministry told AFP that given the restrictions on oil shipments in the strait, Abu Dhabi did not want to be constrained by quotas once the situation returned to normal.
The move to pull out of OPEC also came after the UAE, an ally of the US, criticised fellow Arab states for not doing enough to protect it from Iranian attacks during the conflict, Reuters reported.
Earlier in the conflict, Tehran had struck US military bases in the region and Israel, and targeted major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser of the UAE president, on Monday criticised the Arab and Gulf response to the Iranian attacks at an event.
“The Gulf Cooperation Council countries supported each other logistically, but politically and militarily, I think their position has been the weakest historically,” Reuters quoted Gargash as saying. “…I haven’t expected it from the [Gulf] Cooperation Council and I am surprised by it.”
The council is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union comprising six Arab states in the Persian Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The war in West Asia
The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region and targeting major cities in Gulf countries.
Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
On April 17, Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. A day later, however, Tehran said it was reimposing strict military controls on the waterway, alleging “repeated breaches of trust” by the US.
On April 13, Washington had begun blockading Iranian ports.
The developments come amid continuing uncertainty over whether fresh talks between Iran and the US will take place. An initial round of peace talks between Iran and the US in Islamabad collapsed on April 12.
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