The United Arab Emirates is set to substantially ramp up its oil production capacity after quitting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the broader OPEC+ alliance effective Friday, making a pivotal shift at a time when the war between the United States, Israel and Iran has triggered an energy crisis and roiled the global economy.

The Gulf nation announced its unexpected decision on Tuesday, stripping the 65-year-old oil cartel of one of its top and most influential producers. OPEC and OPEC+ have long regulated global crude markets through coordinated production quotas to balance supply and prices.

Speaking to Aletihad News Center, UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei said prolonged shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have depleted global strategic oil reserves, necessitating increased investment and higher output to offset supply shortfalls.

"It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production," he said, adding that the UAE did not consult other nations on the move.

The UAE first joined OPEC through Abu Dhabi in 1967 and retained its membership after the federation was founded in 1971. Alongside Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, it has long underpinned Middle Eastern crude output, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of global oil supply.

Analysts said the well-timed exit aligns with both domestic policy shifts and turbulent geopolitics, as the UAE seeks to scale up its daily production capacity from 3.4 million barrels to 5 million barrels by 2027.

Bader Mousa al-Saif, an assistant professor at Kuwait University, said the UAE's withdrawal "has been long in the making". "We are approaching a post-oil era, a trend all Gulf states acknowledge, yet they differ on how aggressively to diversify away from oil dependence," he told Al Jazeera.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, echoed the view, saying that the UAE had "seized the opportunity to exit OPEC, shedding the production quota straitjacket that for years frustrated the oil-rich nation".

The move came as recent data showed that OPEC production fell 27 percent to 20.79 million barrels per day in March, after disruptions cut supply by 7.88 million barrels per day. The UAE also criticized fellow Arab states for not doing enough to protect it during the war.

As the UAE's OPEC exit is not expected to immediately resolve the Strait of Hormuz shipping blockade, global oil prices kept climbing on Wednesday. Brent crude June futures settled at $111.78 per barrel, surging over 50 percent from pre-war levels.

Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone, said the UAE's timing should be noted. "As the Middle East conflict drags on and the Strait of Hormuz remains largely impassable, the biggest market constraint lies not in production capacity but maritime shipping," he told Gulf News.

The development also came as leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council on Tuesday held their first in-person meeting since the war began in late February.

Held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the meeting focused on enhancing intra-Gulf coordination to mitigate war-induced spillover risks, formulate effective responses and safeguard GCC national interests while bolstering regional security and stability, Saudi media Al Arabiya News reported.

Although cross-border attacks have eased since the US and Iran reached a ceasefire on April 8, Gulf states remain on high alert over potential renewed hostilities, and diplomatic efforts to strike a permanent deal have so far yielded no breakthroughs.

The Wall Street Journal reported late on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump had ordered his aides to extend the naval blockade on Iranian ports to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also set to deliver his first congressional testimony on the Iran war on Wednesday.

But the Trump administration faces mounting domestic pressure to secure an exit from the war amid soaring energy prices. With US midterm elections scheduled for November, public polls show the conflict has grown deeply unpopular among the public.

Meanwhile, Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia told state TV that "we do not consider the war to be over", adding that Tehran had "no trust in America".

Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik added that Washington "must abandon its illegal and irrational demands". He added that "the US is no longer in a position to dictate policies to sovereign independent nations".