The departure of Abu Dhabi ends more than five decades of membership and removes one of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s most capacity-rich producers. For oil-dependent economies unable to expand output, the implications are structural rather than temporary.
In global oil markets, influence is defined less by membership than by the ability to produce and withhold barrels. That distinction now sits at the centre of a shift within the OPEC.
The exit of the United Arab Emirates removes a key source of disciplined su
