Pakistan, April 29 -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it will leave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on May 1, ending nearly six decades of association with the oil cartel. Emirati officials have cast the move as part of a long-term recalibration of production policy, arguing that the country's evolving energy profile and expanded output capacity no longer sit comfortably with OPEC's quota discipline.

Despite appearances, this is not theatre for its own sake. It is the culmination of years of strain inside OPEC, where Abu Dhabi invested heavily in raising production capacity and then found itself constrained by output limits designed to defend prices rather than reward expansion.

The announc...