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The UAE’s shock decision to leave Saudi-dominated OPEC was not targeted at anyone, the UAE minister who heads the state oil giant said yesterday. The move aimed at focusing on national priorities and the UAE economy, said Sultan Al Jaber, who is ADNOC’s CEO and the country’s industry and advanced technology minister. The decision, which took effect on Friday, followed months of tensions with neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and de facto leader of OPEC, over foreign policy, oil output and the Middle East war, which has strained Gulf economies. A close partnership between the Gulf nations has turned into open rivalry since a public falling out in December over Yemen, but the minister said the decision to withdraw from the oil cartel was not aimed at any nation. “The United Arab Emirates’ sovereign decision to reposition itself within the global energy landscape, and to exit OPEC and OPEC+, is not a decision directed against anyone,” he told a conference in Abu Dhabi. The exit of the UAE, which was OPEC’s fourth-largest producer, dealt a blow to the cartel’s ability to control oil prices.It also further strained UAE-Saudi ties, which plunged after their row over Yemen in December, according to analysts. The two sides have long been at odds over OPEC production quotas. Leaving OPEC “serves our national interests and long-term strategic objectives, aligns with our industrial, economic, and developmental ambitions, and gives us greater ability to accelerate investment, expand, and create value”, Jaber said. “This move was not done in isolation,” he said at the Make It In The Emirates conference on UAE industry. “It is part of a broader effort to reshape our economy and industrial base through a vision that connects energy, technology, and industry, aligning our resources with national priorities to build a stronger, more resilient economy.” While the UAE is not the first country to leave OPEC, it is by far the biggest producer to do so. The UAE has long been frustrated with OPEC’s quotas, which sought to cap Emirati production at 3.4 million barrels a day. Abu Dhabi seeks to expand the UAE’s production capacity to five million barrels a day by 2027. On Sunday, ADNOC pledged to spend $55 billion on new projects over the next two years.The added revenue from oil sales would allow the UAE to step up its investments in artificial intelligence and other high-tech sectors, some analysts have said.“There is a great difference between those who focus only on surviving crises... and those who seize them as opportunities... and turn them into new beginnings,” Jaber said. 

EU Entry/Exit System to be rolled out over six monthsPassport stamping to be replaced by digital recordsEU seeks tighter border controls amid immigration pressuresEuropean Union member countries began rolling out a new entry and exit system on Sunday at the bloc's external borders, electronically registering non-EU nationals' data.The Entry/Exit System (EES), an automated system that requires travellers to register at the border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken, will be introduced over six months.The move is aimed at detecting overstayers, tackling identity fraud and preventing illegal migration amid political pressure in some EU countries to take a tougher stance."The Entry/Exit System is the digital backbone of our new common European migration and asylum framework," European Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said in a statement.Non-EU citizens will have to register their personal details when they first enter the Schengen area - all EU member countries apart from Ireland and Cyprus, but including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.Subsequent journeys will only require facial biometric verification.The system should be fully operational, with passport stamping replaced with electronic records, on April 10, 2026."Every third country national who arrives at an external border will undergo identity verification, security screening, and registration in the EU databases," Brunner said.At the Bajakovo border crossing between Serbia and neighbouring Croatia, a EU member state, hundreds of people, many of them Serbians, queued in their cars on Sunday for around 20 minutes before entering booths for fingerprinting and face scanning."There are five lanes open, so it took us about 20 minutes in line and about two minutes (in the booth) for each of the five of us from the car," said Dalibor Vranic, from Serbia.For British travellers using the Port of Dover, the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone or Eurostar terminal at London's St Pancras International, the process takes place at the border before they leave the UK.At Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal, only freight and coach traffic was subject to EES checks from Sunday.Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel, while the Eurostar at St Pancras was gradually introducing the new process, starting with some business travellers from Sunday."The UK and EU have a shared objective of securing our borders and these modernisation measures will help us protect our citizens and prevent illegal migration," British Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said.