Once free of Opec’s production caps, the world’s sixth-largest oil producer plans to flood the market with 5 million barrels a day
3-MIN READ3-MINBiman MukherjiPublished: 11:23am, 29 Apr 2026Asia’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 per barrel.
“For Asia’s import-heavy economies like Japan, India and South Korea, that’s structurally good news on prices long-term, even if the near-term picture is painful with Asian refineries already cutting runs sharply,” Saraswat said.
