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United Arab Emirates

April 30, 2026

Abu Dhabi 8:32 am

32°C

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

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

Latest News

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

UAE to leave OPEC on May 1

Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images)

United Arab Emirates

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.

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

Emirates temporarily halts bookings to New Zealand

The Dubai-based carrier's decision follows a stoppage it placed on flights from Pakistan as countries struggle to resume flights during the pandemic.

United Arab Emirates

UAE seeks turnaround in relations with Somalia for help in Yemen war

The United Arab Emirates has offered Somalia to reopen a hospital in the capital, in exchange for backing the UAE’s involvement in the Yemeni war, but Somalia rejected this amid deteriorating relations between the two countries.

United Arab Emirates

Workers take down a Belt and Road Forum panel outside the venue of the forum in Beijing on April 27, 2019. - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged dozens of world leaders on April 27 to reject protectionism and invited more countries to participate in his global infrastructure project after seeking to ease concerns surrounding the programme. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

China’s 'Belt and Road' push brings risks, rewards to Mideast

China's digital and satellite advances offer new regional opportunities and challenges for the United States in countering Beijing's economic influence in the region.

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Has China gained an edge on the US in the Gulf?

China has upped the ante, but the United States holds the winning hand; Oman weighs risks and benefits of Gulf bailout; will migrant workers return to GCC?

TOPSHOT - A trader walks by beneath a stock display board at the Dubai Stock Exchange in the United Arab Emirates, on March 8, 2020. - Saudi's stock exchange fell 6.5 percent and other Gulf markets tumbled to multi-year lows at the start of trading after OPEC and its allies failed to clinch a deal over oil production cuts. (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

IMF official: Gulf economies to contract by 7.6% in 2020

The International Monetary Fund official's predictions are worse than earlier ones as the Gulf deals with oil price drops and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of an Indian medical team register for testing upon their arrival at Dubai International Airport on May 9, 2020, to help with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Negative virus test required to enter UAE

As the oil-rich Gulf country announced more than 400 new cases of the virus, it rolled out new movement restrictions in the capital.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli police man a checkpoint at the entrance of the central Israeli Elad city on June 24, 2020, as the government imposed a partial lockdown on several neighbourhoods following a recent increase in coronavirus cases. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu announces anti-coronavirus cooperation between Israel, UAE

Private companies from Israel and the United Arab Emirates plan to cooperate on developing technologies to battle COVID-19.

United Arab Emirates

Oman weighs costs of bailout from Gulf neighbors

Gulf countries might step up to keep Oman’s public finances afloat, but experts warn strings may be attached.

An Emirates aircraft takes off from Dubai International Airport on April 6, 2020, as Emirates Airline resumed a limited number of outbound passenger flights after its COVID-19 coronavirus-enforced stoppage. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Emirates suspends passenger flights from Pakistan following virus cases

The Dubai-based airline said a number of passengers were found to have COVID-19 on a recent flight.

United Arab Emirates

People sit in a coffee shop during the reopening of malls, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah - RC2SXG9IIZ4G

UAE ends virus curfew

Emirati authorities announced total freedom of movement today.

United Arab Emirates

A diver inspects transplanted coral near Dibba Port in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, June 15, 2020. Picture taken June 15, 2020. REUTERS/Christopher Pike - RC2MBH9IA8NL

Biologists dive for secrets of coral reef that survives hot Gulf waters

Coral reefs are sensitive ecosystems that rarely survive sea temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, yet coral reef fauna thrives in the Persian Gulf, where scientists hope to find clues about climate change survival.

United Arab Emirates

GCC faces possible setback with exodus of skilled professionals

The coronavirus pandemic coupled with the oil crisis is pushing foreign workers to exit the Gulf states, perhaps shaping future labor policies.