UAE Leaves OPEC, Shaking Up Oil Cartel

0:00It's April 29th. This is US News Today, powered by AI, your country in real time. I'm Corey with the story. The United Arab Emirates just announced it's leaving OPEC after more than 50 years as a member, a move that could shake up the oil cartels power. OPEC's already lost ground with the United States. Now the world's top oil producer since 2018, pumping out record levels and changing the game. Things in the Middle East are adding fuel to the fire, with conflicts disrupting oil flows through the strait of hormones and stirring up global energy markets. This exit follows others like Ecuador, Qatar and Angola, bailing in recent years, leaving OPEC slimmer at around 11 members. Analysts are split on the damage, some call it a huge blow because of distrust among members and the UAE's key spare production capacity to tweak. This is fast, others point out OPEC has bounced back from past drama thanks to alliances like OPEC Plus with Russia.

1:01The UAE's energy minister is calming nerves, promising to keep supporting stable supplies worldwide as they diversify into things like electrification. This might pull them closer to the US, which has pushed back against OPEC's sway. Saudi Arabia, still the big boss, will likely rally Kuwait, Iraq and others to hold the line on production and pricing, but the long-term picture for. OPEC's unity stays murky amid all this chaos.