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What I’m hearing from energy insiders
The ink was barely dry - so to speak - on this week’s Power Point when the news blew harder than the oil well in the movie There Will Be Blood. The United Arab Emirates is leaving OPEC, and leaving now.
It came as a shock to many. The UAE may only be the 3rd largest producer in OPEC - and 8th largest in the world - but it punches above its weight in terms of influence. I’ve been to a number of OPEC meetings and the UAE and its long-time energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei have always been at the forefront of the negotiation and dialogue. Whenever there was a conflict - usually with Iran - Saudi Arabia or the UAE appeared to be the country that could smooth it over. When the group would finally make a decision on oil output, the UAE was often on the dais with OPEC’s President and Saudi Arabia, facing the worlds energy journalists.
The reverberations of the news haven’t yet begun. When you read this, the news will only be a day old and the May 1st exit not even here. So how this ultimately plays out is anyone’s guess. So here’s mine.
