The country wants to sell more crude, but geopolitical tensions with Saudi Arabia also fueled the exit.
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On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates announced that, after nearly 60 years of membership, it would depart the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The cartel, which is made up of 12 core nations, coordinates crude oil production among its members to manage global supply and prices, with the group historically pumping roughly 40 percent of the world's oil and sitting atop about 80 percent of proven reserves.
Alex Demas is a reporter at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he worked in England as a financial journalist and earned his MA in Political Economy at King's College London. When not heroically combating misinformation online, Alex can be found mixing cocktails, watching his beloved soccer team Aston Villa lose a match, or attempting to pet stray cats.
