UAE owes it to investors to produce without restrictions, energy minister says

Minister of Energy of the United Arab Emirates, UAE, Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei talks with Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, from left, OPEC Secretary General of Nigeria prior to the start of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

The United Arab Emirates owes it to its investment partners to produce what global oil markets require without restrictions, while cooperating with other crude producers, its energy minister said on Monday after the Gulf state left OPEC.

The UAE, one of OPEC’s biggest producers, exited the group on May 1, widening a rift with its neighbor Saudi Arabia, effectively the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the wider OPEC+ group.

“We owe it to partners investing in UAE to produce what the world requires without restrictions with collaboration with all other producers,” Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said at an annual UAE industrial conference in Dubai.

Once firm allies, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have developed a simmering rivalry, clashing on issues from oil policy and regional geopolitics to ​the race for foreign ⁠talent and capital.

Mazrouei and state energy group ADNOC’s CEO said the UAE left OPEC and OPEC+ on good terms and the decision was not directed against anyone.

“I am confident we will be working with so many nations, including members of OPEC and OPEC+... We left on good terms,” Mazrouei said at the “Make It In The Emirates” conference.

Asked about OPEC and Saudi Arabia’s lack of public response to the decision, Mazrouei said: “The group has been relatively calm about the decision. Everyone realizes it is a sovereign decision and everyone realizes that UAE will be a responsible producer.”

Long-term strategic objectives

The UAE move was widely seen by energy analysts as weakening OPEC’s clout over oil markets which could initiate a race to boost output leading to a sharp fall in crude prices.

“We will gauge our engagements based on requirements of the market as well as what we need to produce for our local industries,” Mazrouei said.

ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber said the move to leave OPEC served the UAE’s long-term strategic objectives, giving it greater ability to accelerate investment, expand and create value, while remaining a trusted and responsible partner in global energy markets.

“The United Arab Emirates’ sovereign decision to reposition itself within the global energy landscape, and to exit OPEC and OPEC+, is not a decision directed against anyone,” he told the conference.

(Reporting by Yoused Saba, Additional reporting by Tala Ramadan; Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)