The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday said it was quitting OPEC, dealing a blow to the oil producers' group ​as an unprecedented energy crisis caused by the Iran war exposes discord among Gulf nations, Reuters reported. 

The exit of the UAE - one of the group's biggest producers - weakens ‌OPEC's control over global oil supplies and widens a rift between the UAE and its neighbour Saudi Arabia, effectively the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

It could also free the UAE to increase output once exports via the Gulf resume as it would no longer be governed by OPEC quotas.