Abu Dhabi, 28 April. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced leaving OPEC and OPEC+, the organization of petroleum exporting countries, amid a global economy that is staggering due to the historic crisis in the energy sector caused by the war between America and Israel versus Iran. This is being considered a major blow to the oil exporting groups and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
This shocking decision of UAE, which has been a member of OPEC for a long time, can create chaos in the group and weaken it. The group has generally tried to show a united face despite internal differences on issues ranging from geopolitics to production quotas.
OPEC’s Gulf producing countries are already struggling to export their oil through the Strait of Hormuz. It is a narrow sea route between Iran and Oman, through which usually one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes. They are facing this problem due to threats from Iran and attacks on ships.
UAE’s exit from OPEC is Donald Trump’s victory.
But UAE’s exit from OPEC is a big victory for US President Donald Trump. Trump has accused this organization of ‘looting the rest of the world’ by increasing oil prices.
by increasing oil prices Trump has accused OPEC of looting the rest of the world
Trump has also linked America’s military aid to Gulf countries to oil prices. He has said that while on one hand America protects OPEC members, on the other hand they ‘take advantage of it by setting high oil prices’.
The UAE had criticized other Arab countries during several attacks by Iran.
It is noteworthy that the UAE, a major regional trading center and one of Washington’s most important allies, had recently criticized other Arab countries, saying that these countries did not take enough steps to protect it from Iran’s numerous attacks during the war.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the UAE President, criticized the reaction of Arab and Gulf countries to Iran’s attacks at a session of the ‘Gulf Influencers Forum’ on Monday. Gargash said, ‘The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have supported each other logistically, but at the political and military level, I think their stance has historically been the weakest. I expected such a weak stance from the Arab League and I am not surprised by it, but I did not expect this from the (Gulf) Cooperation Council and I am surprised by it.
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