No current plan for the UAE to leave OPEC oil alliance, sources say

No current plan for the UAE to leave OPEC oil alliance, sources say

The United Arab Emirates does not intend to leave the influential OPEC oil alliance at this time, two senior officials with knowledge of the matter told CNBC, after a recent report signaled internal talks over such a departure. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to publicly discuss the topic. The UAE oil ministry and Adnoc, the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment. On March 3, that rising political disagreements between OPEC+ chair Saudi Arabia and the UAE have once more sparked questions over the latter's future in the producers' coalition. Such a departure would remove the cooperation of the third-largest producer of the OPEC subgroup and hint at further disunity within the alliance after the recent exits of Ecuador and Qatar — at a time when oil prices remain trapped between limited global spare capacity and potential demand increases from a reopening China. The Brent contract with May expiry was trading at $84.76 per barrel at 1 p.m. London time, down by $1.07 per barrel from the previous close price. The front-month Nymex WTI contract was at $78.72 per barrel, lower by 96