UAE oil break exposes deepening Saudi rift as Gulf power shifts

The United Arab Emirates' decision to quit OPEC and OPEC+ has brought years of tensions with Saudi Arabia out into the open, marking a strategic break with Saudi-led oil governance in a rebalancing of power shaped by the Iran war.



Political analysts and regional experts said the move to leave the groups of oil-producing nations, announced on Tuesday, was more than just a dispute over OPEC oil output quotas that Gulf sources say Abu Dhabi sees as tilted against the UAE.



It is also part of a deeper rupture in ties in which Abu Dhabi is prioritising autonomy over deference to Riyadh, they said, and using oil as a tool to express its autonomy and show it will not be dictated to.



The rupture, they said, goes beyond policy into the personal and strategic core of the relationship between UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.