WASHINGTON, April 29. /TASS/. The United Arab Emirates’ authorities are interested in lower oil prices to balance the country’s budget, said Bachar El-Halabi, a Dubai-based senior energy markets analyst at commodities research firm Argus Media.
"Of course, oil continues to be the backbone of their [UAE] economy. But they don’t worry about prices a lot because, in practice, they need way lower prices to balance their budgets," he told The Washington Post.
The UAE relies on oil revenue but less than some of its Persian Gulf neighbors, El-Halabi said, adding that the country has "diversified their economy in terms of trade, tourism and transportation."
In turn, a professor and Gulf expert at the University of Bristol Toby Matthiesen believes the UAE’s exit from OPEC might not show up in oil prices yet, because "they can produce more, but not export more at the moment."
Earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported that the UAE had decided to withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, 2026. The country assured though that it shares the desire to stabilize the global fuel market. Its oil production policy will take into account global supply and demand, according to the WAM publication.