The United Arab Emirates announced it will permanently leave OPEC, the oil producers' cartel, effective May 1, following what officials described as an extensive review of the country's oil production policy. The UAE has been one of OPEC's most significant members, consistently ranking among the group's top producers. The departure removes a major Gulf producer from the alliance that has coordinated global oil output for decades. OPEC uses collective production quotas to influence global oil prices, and losing the UAE weakens that collective leverage. The UAE has long chafed under OPEC's output caps, which limit how much member nations can produce and sell. A country outside the cartel faces no such restrictions and can pump and export oil freely, which could mean higher UAE output and downward pressure on global oil prices. Markets will now watch whether other members reassess their own membership and whether OPEC adjusts its quotas to compensate for the UAE's exit.
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
