UAE Exits OPEC+: Oil Barely Flinched And These 5 Energy Stocks Ripped

Crude oil prices held above $100 a barrel on Tuesday morning, up 3.5% from Monday’s close, after the United Arab Emirates announced it will withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, ending nearly six decades of membership and signaling a shift toward unilateral production policy.

The news pulled West Texas Intermediate – as tracked by the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) – off its overnight high of $102 and Brent off $112, but failed to break the $100 floor.

Prices had surged overnight after President Donald Trump‘s national-security team publicly cooled on Tehran’s latest offer to halt attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade. Hawkish signals from Washington added to a supply picture already tightened by two months of Hormuz disruption. 

The UAE Walks Out of OPEC

The UAE state news agency WAM confirmed Tuesday that Abu Dhabi will leave OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1.

The country plans to gradually ramp production toward its 5 million barrels-per-day target by 2027, up from 3.4 million today. The decision was announced hours before OPEC was due to meet in Vienna.

The UAE Energy Minister called it a sovereign decision grounded in a long-term strategy, adding that the timing avoids a major disruption to the market due to constraints on the strait.

The departure follows Qatar’s 2019 exit and leaves OPEC’s Gulf core reduced to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.

The signal: a major Gulf producer is now free to pump unilaterally, but cannot meaningfully replace Hormuz-blocked barrels in the short term.

Why Crude Rallied Above $100 Again

Iran offered overnight to halt fast-attack-boat operations in the strait if Washington withdrew its naval blockade. The White House response was skeptical.

Vandana Hari, chief executive of Singapore-based Vanda Insights, said Trump remains skeptical of Tehran’s offer to end the Hormuz blockade while postponing the nuclear file. Insurers have already tightened requirements for vessels transiting the chokepoint, she added.

Goldman Sachs raised its fourth-quarter Brent forecast to $90 a barrel and WTI to $83 in a note dated April 27, lifting the Brent target by nearly $30 from pre-Hormuz levels.

The bank’s bear-case scenario, where the strait stays effectively closed and additional regional production is lost, takes Brent to $120 in the third quarter and $115 in the fourth.

“The economic risks are larger than our crude base case alone suggests,” Goldman Sachs’ analyst Daan Struyven said.

5 Oil Stocks On The Rise Tuesday

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) led pre-market gainers Tuesday, up 1.6%, with 21 of its components in the green.

Permian-focused exploration and production names dominated the leaderboard, reflecting investor preference for upstream operators with direct exposure to crude prices over downstream refiners squeezed by elevated input costs.

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