UAE said to consider leaving Opec, oil prices slide

Oil prices slid on Friday following a report that the United Arab Emirates is considering leaving the Opec cartel of oil producing countries.

According to The Wall Street Journal, relations between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have deteriorated, with the two at odds over oil and the Yemen war.

The WSJ said that once close friends, "the two biggest Arab economies are increasingly competing for money and power".

Two of the biggest oil producers in the world, the Saudis and Emiratis have also had behind-closed-doors arguments over energy issues, the WSJ said.

Within the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the UAE is obligated to pump much less than it is capable of, hurting its oil revenue, the WSJ said. It has long pushed to pump more oil, but the Saudis have said no, OPEC delegates have said.

Now, said Emirati officials say, the UAE is having an internal debate about leaving OPEC, a decision that would shake the cartel and undermine its power in global oil markets.

At 1450 GMT, Brent crude futures were down 1.4% at $83.54 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate futures were 1.4% lower at $77.04.

Citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters said the Bloomberg report that the UAE is considering leaving Opec is "far from the truth".