00:00OPEC suffered a heavy blow on Tuesday when the United Arab Emirates announced it had quit the oil exporting group.
00:06The stunning loss of the UAE, a long-standing OPEC and OPEC Plus member, could so disarray and weaken the
00:13energy-producing bloc.
00:14Jorge Leon is the head of geopolitical analysis at Reistad Energy and a former OPEC officer in Vienna.
00:20He told Reuters the move by the UAE highlights a growing regional divide.
00:25I think we see two clearly differentiated groups.
00:29On the one hand, we have Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, which are enforcing themselves as the energy of
00:38the security leaders in the region.
00:41And on the other hand, as you correctly mentioned, you have the UAE, which is close links with India, Israel
00:48and the U.S.
00:50UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouyeh told Reuters the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional
00:56power's energy strategies.
00:58He said, quote, this is a policy decision and has been done after a careful look at current and future
01:02policies related to level of production.
01:05Mazrouyeh added the move would not have a huge impact on the market because of the situation in the Strait
01:09of Hormuz.
01:10It comes at a time when the Iran war has caused an historic energy shock and unsettled the global economy.
01:16OPEC Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz.
01:20But the narrow choke point between Iran and Oman that once carried one-fifth of the globe's crude oil and
01:25liquefied natural gas
01:26has been effectively closed since the U.S. and Israel attacked Tehran at the end of February.
01:32Once the Strait reopens, however, the UAE could significantly boost its exports.
01:37And I think that what this really means for oil markets is that we're likely to see much more production
01:44from the UAE coming forward.
01:46And that would mean lower oil prices in the medium and long term.
01:50The UAE exit from OPEC represents a big win for U.S. President Donald Trump,
01:55who has accused the organization of, quote, ripping off the rest of the world by inflating oil prices.
02:00Trump has also linked U.S. military support for the Gulf with oil prices,
02:03saying that while the U.S. defends OPEC members, they, quote,
02:07exploit this by imposing high oil prices.
02:09.
02:10.
02:10.
02:10.
02:10.
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02:12.
02:16You
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