UAE Out! Expert Says More Countries Worldwide Will Leave OPEC

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Experts believe more countries will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) decision to leave the group. This was stated by Obaid Ahmed Al-Zaabi, a former UAE diplomat to the UN and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Previously, the Gulf nation announced its intention to leave the cartel and the broader OPEC+, which unites OPEC members with other major oil-producing countries, on Tuesday. The withdrawal will take effect from 1 May.

In an interview with RT (29/4/2026), Al-Zaabi said the UAE’s decision had been “long awaited”. He reasoned that the country had “substantially” limited its production while many other group members were constrained by their production capacities.

“The UAE is no longer fully dependent on oil and hydrocarbons, and our economy is heavily invested around the world,” he said.

“The OPEC organisation acts as a tax on global productivity, and it is now in our interest to see the world as productive as possible. Moreover, the UAE bears the most cost in enforcing OPEC membership,” he added.

Al-Zaabi also stated that the withdrawal was driven more by “other geopolitical realities” than oil itself. He blamed Iran’s retaliatory actions against its Gulf neighbours following US-Israel attacks.

“It does not benefit the UAE to collude with Iran on oil prices when we are directly affected,” he argued.

“More countries are very likely to follow suit and leave the cartel,” he added.

“It is highly likely, because the more people defect, the more expensive it becomes to maintain volume restrictions. So, if the UAE is serious and they no longer respect those restrictions, there will be no incentive for Kuwait and other countries to cut their production,” he said further.

OPEC currently consists of 12 countries. Various reports indicate that the UAE has 110-115 billion barrels of proved oil reserves.