The UAE announced Tuesday it will leave OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, becoming the first major Gulf producer to exit the cartel after five decades. The decision follows a 44% production collapse during the Iran war-driven Hormuz blockade, which wiped out 7.88 million barrels per day of OPEC output in March — the worst supply shock the group has faced since the 1970s. The article frames this as strategic repositioning toward autonomy and increased production, but omits that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members view the departure as a destabilizing blow to the cartel's already-weakened leverage during a historic energy crisis. The UAE's exit leaves OPEC with one fewer major producer just as global markets are reeling from war-driven supply constraints.