For decades, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) functioned as far more than an oil cartel. For its Gulf members, the organisation embodied a form of collective sovereignty over their primary resource: the capacity of Arab producing states to weigh together on the global economy, defend a shared rent and speak with a coordinated voice to Western consumers. That institutional fiction has just collapsed. When the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its withdrawal from OPEC and the expanded coalition known as OPEC+, effective May 1, 2026, the immediate reflex was to reach for a technical explanation. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei carefully dressed the decision in the language of energy policy: flexibility, productive capacity, long-term national interest. Markets noted that the timing, with the Strait of Hormuz partially closed, would limit the immediate price impact.…