Posted on 04/28/2026 7:45:17 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is quitting the Opec and Opec+ groups of major oil producing nations next month after nearly 60 years of membership.
The UAE said its decision would help it meet growing global energy demand in the long term after recent investments to boost its production capacity.
It is seen as a blow to the cartel, with one analyst describing the exit as "the beginning of the end of Opec".
The Gulf state's energy minister said being a country with no obligation under the groups would give it more flexibility.
Opec was formed in 1960 by five countries - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela - and its aim has been to co-ordinate production to provide steady revenue for its members.
The number of countries in the cartel has fluctuated over the years, but in addition to the five founding members it also includes Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria and the Republic of the Congo.
The UAE joined in 1967, and its departure will leave the cartel with 11 members. There are an additional 10 non-Opec members in the wider Opec+ alliance.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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OPEC was the result of US oil companies trying to convince Eisenhower that the newly-discovered oil reserves in the Mideast were unreliable and should be placed under import controls. However, the real issue was that extraction costs for Mideast oil were about 1/4 that of domestic oil and they needed quotas to protect themselves. Ike implemented the oil quotas.
Wrong move.
What we should have done was cap our domestic wells, sucked the Mideast dry at half the cost, and then uncap ours when their supplies ran dry. But, Eisenhower bought the defense argument and set quotas, which ultimately led to OPEC being formed to fight the quotas.
Yeah, after Iran pounded them, they’re going to need the money to rebuild. I won’t be surprised to see Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi join UAE. At least by selling a lot more oil any way they can.
Like usual, the gulf Arab states will bicker instead of building a canal to bypass the SOH. They have had 47 years, but since the time of Abraham, all they can do is argue amongst themselves.
Trump not only destroying the IRGC, he’s also castrating the marxist-globalist EU, and now dismantling OPEC
win. win. win.
Pump up the volume!
I guess if you were in the Oil Business, for all those years, (and I was), you should have just not produced and made income so that you could develop your reserves. Wow, how patriotic.
Major U.S. oil companies active in the Middle East during the 1950s–1960s included:
Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso/Exxon) — operations in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf region.
Standard Oil of New York (Socony-Mobil / later Mobil) — interests in Iraq and Iran.
Gulf Oil — concessions and operations in the Persian Gulf region (notably Kuwait and Bahrain area activities and regional shipping/refining).
Texaco — partnerships and joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf; later part of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) consortium.
Chevron (Standard Oil of California) — part of consortiums and downstream/refining activities in the region, including work related to ARAMCO developments.
Cities Service Company (Citgo’s predecessor) — smaller concessional activity and regional investments.
Continental Oil (Conoco) — participated in regional exploration and ties to consortiums.
Socony-Vacuum/Marland (precursor company lines that merged into Mobil) — involved via majors’ networks and joint ventures.
Notable multinational arrangements: ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company) was a consortium dominated by U.S. majors (Standard Oil of New Jersey, Socony-Vacuum/Standard Oil of New York, Texaco, and later California interests), controlling major Saudi concessions until Saudi nationalization moves. Many U.S. firms operated through joint ventures, subsidiaries, and consortium agreements rather than purely independent national companies.
“What we should have done was cap our domestic wells, sucked the Mideast dry at half the cost, and then uncap ours when their supplies ran dry.”
That would be a big Strategic vulnerability, should the Arabs choose to boycott (again), or if sea lanes of supply were interdicted somehow. American industry, skills and investment would wither, and be time-consuming to re-start when needed.
Critical supplies (like rare earth magnets, or oil) should not be fully outsourced for any length of time.
I don’t know how long it takes to spin up a well that’s been capped, but I doubt that it’s longer than the strategic oil reserve would last. I also don’t think we would ever totally shut down our wells and I would have expected exploration to continue, if not intensify. Tough to assess these counterfactual questions.
“I also don’t think we would ever totally shut down our wells and I would have expected exploration to continue”
That (don’t shut our wells) is the opposite of what you proposed.
“What we should have done was cap our domestic wells”
I’m aware of what I said, but even if they had capped the wells, I seriously doubt all of them would have been capped. Many of those closest to the refineries in the Mississippi Delta would probably have remain uncapped.
I don’t have to look it up. I was in the business then and saw what was happening..I was with the company who drilled all of Libya’s wells in the 1960s, and was with them when the wells were abandoned by us because the fields were Nationalized. When we left, we dropped our drillbits in the holes upside down so they couldn’t be re-entered easily. So yes, I know, and I don’t have to look it up. Exxon owns the biggest piece of Aramco, and it is part of the World Cartel of oil. It has always been counter to what we wanted to do here in the US because we were never able to control prices on our side. And the Saudis never wanted to let us become as large as them. We were down to 5.8 Million barrels a day because the price was political controlled by all the folks you mention. So, I disagree that we could drill our wells and sit on them forever. Only the majors could do that, and their interests were bigger in the ME. Independents were screwed just by the Majors in this country than OPEC. In fact, the Majors were OPEC. Trump has the right idea, DRILL, DRILL, DRILL and put them out of business.
NEW: Iran’s National Security Committee warns that the UAE “is taking steps to align with America for a renewed attack” and that “this country will be taught a lesson” in the resumption of war, telling Emirati citizens to take notice.
I don’t doubt your experience. I’m just saying that the capping of domestic wells wouldn’t result in the disappearance of the oil industry in the US. Nationalization of industries by foreign gov’t rarely worked out for them. Chile nationalized General Tire under Alende (actually, they bought the factories for $1 each) and five years later they were begging for parts. I’m sure similar stories exist for other industries, too. I agree that Biden’s shutdown of the Keystone project was a HUGE mistake and that Trump’s streamlining of the permitting process and re-opening Federal leases of land and offshore sites is the right move.
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