The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it will leave OPEC effective May 1 — a shocking blow to the world’s largest oil cartel as the Iran war threatens global energy supplies. Though the Middle Eastern nation did not give a reason for its exit, some of its oil infrastructure was recently damaged by drone strikes from fellow OPEC member Iran amid the US and Israel’s war with Tehran. Energy exports from the UAE – the third-largest oil producer in OPEC behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq – have also been severely disrupted by the on-and-off blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway in the Persian Gulf. That has posed a major threat to the nation’s local economy.