https://www.scmp.com/rss/519121/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Asad Ullah Asad Ullah On April 28, the United Arab Emirates informed the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) it was leaving. Three days’ notice. No call to Riyadh beforehand, apparently. The grievance about production quotas was years old: Abu Dhabi had threatened to quit in 2021. What’s changed has nothing to do with the barrel count. It is about who underwrites Abu Dhabi’s security when it acts on a decision Riyadh opposes. After Iran struck UAE infrastructure, Abu Dhabi sent only a foreign... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352666/why-uaes-opec-exit-spells-beginning-end-gulf-unity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352666/why-uaes-opec-exit-spells-beginning-end-gulf-unity?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. The United Arab Emirates’ decision to withdraw from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries effective May 1 has an immediate and practical explanation. Hemmed in by production quotas that cap output well below the UAE’s stated ambition of 5 million barrels per day... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3352162/uaes-opec-exit-reflects-complex-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3352162/uaes-opec-exit-reflects-complex-world?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 03:30:09 +0000 Anthony Rowley Anthony Rowley Not a sudden, major crash but a series of mini-crises. That, according to some, is the prospect facing the global economy and financial system in the wake of conflict in the Middle East. But what if these mini-crises cascade into a collective collapse? And what if the Trump administration emerges as the only winner in the conflict by virtue of the fact that it has, in engineering the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, locked Europe and Asia into a desperate dependence on US oil and gas, especially... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352013/mini-crises-sparked-iran-war-may-add-big-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352013/mini-crises-sparked-iran-war-may-add-big-collapse?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Frank Chen,Mia Nurmamat Frank Chen,Mia Nurmamat China may gain from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) withdrawing from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), benefiting from additional supply as global oil markets face growing strain three months into the US-Israeli war in Iran, analysts said. The UAE – Opec’s third-largest producer, accounting for about 12 per cent of its total output – will formally leave the bloc on May 1. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei told CNBC that it was the “right time” to exit, adding... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351849/why-china-may-benefit-uaes-opec-withdrawal-amid-iran-war-oil-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351849/why-china-may-benefit-uaes-opec-withdrawal-amid-iran-war-oil-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:00:08 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Asia’s oil import-dependent economies will benefit from the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) exit from Opec, though the ongoing closure of the arterial Strait of Hormuz may not offer any immediate relief from soaring prices, analysts say. Global oil prices continued to surge on Wednesday, with benchmark Brent crude oil prices hitting US$111 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) approaching US$100 a barrel. Before the Iran war, Brent was trading around US$70 a barrel, while WTI was about US$65... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3351776/why-uaes-exit-opec-good-news-asias-energy-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3351776/why-uaes-exit-opec-good-news-asias-energy-security?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 03:23:16 +0000 Reuters Reuters Opec is set to agree on Sunday on another modest increase in oil output targets, three sources familiar with the talks said, as the producers’ group moderates plans to regain market share due to rising supply glut fears. Opec has raised output targets by more than 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) – about 2.5 per cent of global supply – since April but slowed the pace in October and November from larger increases amid predictions of a looming oversupply. New Western sanctions on Opec member... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3331245/opec-agrees-output-increase-moderates-plans-due-glut-fears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3331245/opec-agrees-output-increase-moderates-plans-due-glut-fears?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Nov 2025 13:31:54 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Eight key members of the Opec alliance said Sunday they have agreed to again boost oil production, in a strategy analysts saw as a bid to gain a bigger market share of crude sales. Oil ministers in the V8 grouping – comprising Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman – decided to increase production by 137,000 barrels a day (bpd) from next month, they said in a statement. Those countries had already increased production by 2.2 million bpd in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3324668/key-opec-members-send-big-message-higher-oil-production?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3324668/key-opec-members-send-big-message-higher-oil-production?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Sep 2025 15:32:36 +0000 Reuters Reuters Opec+ group of leading global oil producers could bring forward its output hikes by around a year from the initial plan, Igor Sechin, head of Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft, said on Saturday. He also said that the decision by the Opec+ to speed up the output increase now looked farsighted and justified in light of the confrontation between Israel and Iran. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia, shocked oil markets in April by agreeing to a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3315339/opec-may-speed-oil-output-hikes-amid-israel-iran-fighting-rosneft-head?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3315339/opec-may-speed-oil-output-hikes-amid-israel-iran-fighting-rosneft-head?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Jun 2025 11:15:34 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Opec+ has agreed to surge oil output by 411,000 barrels a day for the third month in a row, doubling down on a historic policy shift that has sent crude prices sinking. Key nations led by Saudi Arabia agreed during a video conference on Saturday to add that amount to the market in July, according to delegates. The surge follows equally sized increases scheduled for May and June, marking a clear break with years of efforts by the group to support global oil prices. “Opec+ isn’t whispering any... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3312596/opec-agrees-sharp-increase-july-oil-production-deepen-price-slump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3312596/opec-agrees-sharp-increase-july-oil-production-deepen-price-slump?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 May 2025 11:25:38 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The plunge in oil prices over the past two days following the twin shocks of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the surprise boost in production from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has altered the global energy landscape with stunning speed. Brent crude, the global benchmark, tumbled 13 per cent through Thursday and Friday to just over US$66 a barrel, casting new doubts on Trump’s quest to aggressively boost US fossil fuel output and achieve “energy dominance.” Across... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3305322/oil-price-crashed-13-two-days-will-freefall-reorder-global-energy-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3305322/oil-price-crashed-13-two-days-will-freefall-reorder-global-energy-landscape?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Apr 2025 03:48:38 +0000 Saudi Arabia raised the price of its flagship crude to Asia for a third consecutive month, as the kingdom tries to tighten the oil market to prevent a global surplus. State-owned Saudi Aramco raised the June official selling price of Arab Light crude for customers in Asia by 90 cents to US$2.90 a barrel above the regional Oman-Dubai benchmark, according to a price list seen by Bloomberg. It compares with an increase of 60 cents forecast in a Bloomberg survey of six refiners. Prices for other... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3261554/saudi-arabia-raises-asia-bound-flagship-crude-oil-prices-third-month-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3261554/saudi-arabia-raises-asia-bound-flagship-crude-oil-prices-third-month-row?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 May 2024 06:07:46 +0000 Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and immediately began hastily arranged talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on oil, Gaza and Ukraine. It was not immediately clear what Putin, who has rarely left Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, intended to raise specifically about oil or geopolitics in a meeting with the crown prince of the world’s largest crude exporter. The meeting with MBS, as the prince is widely known, comes after a fall in oil prices... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3244127/russias-putin-meets-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-whirlwind-gulf-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3244127/russias-putin-meets-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-whirlwind-gulf-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:18:59 +0000 Major oil-producing nations Saudi Arabia and Russia on Thursday announced they would further slash production in an effort to prop up volatile prices following an Opec+ meeting. The meeting also saw major producer Brazil declared as joining the grouping from next year, according to a statement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). Brazil’s Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira, who attended the meeting, called it a “historic moment for Brazil”, but added his ministry... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3243434/opec-slashes-oil-output-further-boost-flagging-prices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3243434/opec-slashes-oil-output-further-boost-flagging-prices?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Nov 2023 19:40:54 +0000 Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut oil production by 1 million barrels a day from next month is expected to hit the fuel’s largest consumer Asia, but that move could also be the catalyst for renewable energy development in the region, analysts said. The voluntary cut pledged by Saudi Arabia comes as part of a broader deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and their allies including Russia to extend production cuts into 2024 to boost sagging oil prices. Benchmark Brent... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3223033/surging-global-oil-prices-could-be-catalyst-asias-green-energy-growth-promise-significant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3223033/surging-global-oil-prices-could-be-catalyst-asias-green-energy-growth-promise-significant?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jun 2023 01:45:15 +0000 Riyadh on Sunday announced it would slash output further by 1.4 million barrels per day in a bid to prop up prices, despite fears of a recession. The announcement on production cuts came following a meeting of the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) headed by Saudi Arabia and its 10 partners, led by Russia. The cut is for July but “can be extended”, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told reporters. It is a “voluntary” cut announced after the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3222922/tough-talks-opec-mulls-more-output-cuts-boost-oil-price?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3222922/tough-talks-opec-mulls-more-output-cuts-boost-oil-price?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jun 2023 15:46:59 +0000 The chances are that Asia’s gain will also bring some China pain. China’s National People Congress (NPC) last week set a modest 5 per cent growth for this year, surprising many who had expected lawmakers to aim for higher growth after strict Covid-19 controls took a toll on the economy. While some observers say that the soft outlook is based on estimates when China’s reopening was still under way at the end of 2022, the forecast indicates the nation wants to strike a balance and prevent... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3212956/asia-set-both-gain-and-pain-reopened-china-soaks-oil-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3212956/asia-set-both-gain-and-pain-reopened-china-soaks-oil-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00:18 +0000 Opec+ agreed to stick to its oil output targets at a meeting on Sunday, two Opec+ sources told Reuters, as the oil markets struggle to assess the impact of a slowing Chinese economy on demand and a G7 price cap on Russian oil on supply. The decision comes two days after the Group of Seven (G7) nations agreed a price cap on Russian oil. Opec+, which comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and allies including Russia, angered the United States and other Western... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3202030/opec-agrees-no-change-oil-policy-production-targets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3202030/opec-agrees-no-change-oil-policy-production-targets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Dec 2022 13:07:50 +0000 Major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia look set to maintain their current output levels at a meeting on Sunday, ahead of fresh sanctions against Moscow coming into force. The 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is due to consult 10 other oil-producing nations, including Russia, to review their decision in October to cut production by two million barrels per day. The Opec+ videoconference will take place from 1100 GMT Sunday. On Friday, the EU,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3201988/opec-likely-maintain-output-levels-despite-sanctions-russian-oil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3201988/opec-likely-maintain-output-levels-despite-sanctions-russian-oil?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Dec 2022 03:47:22 +0000 The UN climate conference taking place in Egypt until November 18 has much to discuss, from financing the transition to clean energy to protecting the world’s forests and future-proofing cities. Here are some of the most-watched topics on the agenda in the sun-baked resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where forecasters have warned of a possible sixth failed rainy season. Fossil fuels and backsliding Countries at last year’s COP26 talks agreed for the first time to “phase down” coal production and trim... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3198863/cop27-whats-un-climate-talks-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3198863/cop27-whats-un-climate-talks-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2022 09:18:25 +0000 For a taste of how flimsy the US Democratic Party’s mantra of values-based diplomacy is, one needs to look no further than recent dealings between President Joe Biden’s administration and Saudi Arabia. Biden came to power promising to re-centre American foreign policy in the country’s democratic values and heritage of “upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law and treating every person with dignity”. This approach, administration officials had said, would be far removed from the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3196630/joe-bidens-values-based-foreign-policy-tanks-when-it-comes-us-saudi-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3196630/joe-bidens-values-based-foreign-policy-tanks-when-it-comes-us-saudi-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Oct 2022 00:00:11 +0000 Oil rose as traders shrugged off US President Joe Biden’s remarks about taming energy prices. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 3.3 per cent to settle above US$85 a barrel. In a speech on Wednesday, Biden confirmed the US is releasing 15 million barrels from the nation’s strategic reserve but did not announce any other steps that might pull back prices, such as plans to curb fuel exports. “The change in tone is subtle but not missed by the market,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3196552/oil-rises-joe-bidens-energy-remarks-fail-pacify-markets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3196552/oil-rises-joe-bidens-energy-remarks-fail-pacify-markets?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Oct 2022 20:26:36 +0000 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone on Thursday and underlined the importance of further cooperation within the OPEC+ group of oil producers, the Kremlin said. The conversation took place six days after US President Joe Biden visited the prince in Saudi Arabia – highlighting the kingdom’s importance to both Washington and Moscow at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is roiling global energy markets. On June 2, OPEC+, which brings together... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3186150/vladimir-putin-and-saudi-crown-prince-talk-oil-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3186150/vladimir-putin-and-saudi-crown-prince-talk-oil-just?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Jul 2022 20:36:52 +0000 United States President Joe Biden’s recent tour of the Middle East had an abiding domestic political context. Without a reversal of both higher petrol prices in the US and his plummeting popularity, the coming midterm polls threaten a significant electoral setback for his Democratic Party. The two factors are inseparable, and play into the wider context of the tour, which was to shore up American relations with the region, particularly Saudi Arabia and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3185864/middle-east-does-not-need-alliance-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3185864/middle-east-does-not-need-alliance-rivalry?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Jul 2022 20:40:46 +0000 Joe Biden will make his first visit as US president to Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he will seek to persuade Riyadh to pump more oil to bring down prices that are fuelling inflation to the highest levels in decades. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have the capacity to take “further steps” to increase oil production despite suggestions from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that they can... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3184953/joe-biden-seeks-persuade-saudi-arabia-pump-more-oil-prices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3184953/joe-biden-seeks-persuade-saudi-arabia-pump-more-oil-prices?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Jul 2022 03:14:02 +0000 The secretary general of oil producers group Opec, Mohammad Barkindo, has died, the boss of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) announced on Wednesday. Barkindo, 63, was due to step down at the end of this month after six years in the top job at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). “We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo,” NNPC CEO Mele Kyari wrote on Twitter, adding that he died late on Tuesday. The death is a “great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3184304/opecs-secretary-general-mohammad-barkindo-dies-63?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3184304/opecs-secretary-general-mohammad-barkindo-dies-63?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jul 2022 07:52:09 +0000 The Biden administration is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil over several months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), four US sources said on Wednesday, as the White House tries to lower fuel prices. The International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries are set to meet on Friday at 1200 GMT to decide on a collective oil release, a spokesperson for New Zealand energy minister said in an email on Thursday. “The amount of the potential collective release has not been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3172502/biden-administration-weighs-releasing-180-barrels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3172502/biden-administration-weighs-releasing-180-barrels?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Mar 2022 03:13:38 +0000