The UAE has announced it is leaving both OPEC and the broader OPEC+ alliance, according to a Reuters report. The move marks one of the most significant departures from the oil cartel in decades, removing a major Gulf producer from the group's production-management framework. The UAE is one of the world's top ten crude oil producers, with output capacity well above its OPEC+ quota. Tensions between Abu Dhabi and the group over production limits have surfaced repeatedly in recent years, most visibly during the 2021 standoff that nearly collapsed a broader supply deal. Leaving OPEC+ frees the UAE to pump oil at its own discretion, without being bound by coordinated output cuts designed to support prices. That could mean higher UAE supply hitting global markets, which would put downward pressure on crude prices and complicate Saudi Arabia's ability to manage the cartel's output targets. Watch for an official UAE production ramp-up timeline and any Saudi-led response that could reshape the remaining OPEC+ members' quotas and cohesion.
Iranian armed forces attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, briefly halting traffic through the waterway. The strike threatens a fragile US-Iran arrangement and could push shipping insurance costs and oil prices higher.
The US has struck Iran, with President Trump citing an Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz as justification. The action raises immediate risks for global oil flows through one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints.
The US struck ten Iranian targets on the second consecutive day of military action, putting a fragile ceasefire under serious pressure. The escalation raises immediate risks for Gulf shipping, global oil supply, and regional stability.
Venezuela's twin earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have killed at least 164 people and injured 971, interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Thursday. The quakes are the country's strongest since 1900, collapsing buildings across Caracas and prompting a state of emergency, with the death toll expected to rise as
