Could OPEC break lead to era of energy volatility?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 747 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
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Summary
Iran has attacked a UAE petroleum site in Fujairah, just days after the United Arab Emirates announced it was leaving OPEC. As the Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens and oil prices keep rising, could this accelerate the shift to renewables, or are we heading into an era of energy volatility?
In this episode:
- Jim Krane (@jimkrane), Co-director of the Middle East Energy Roundtable, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by David Enders and Sarí el-Khalili with Chloe K. Li, Catherine Nouhan, Tuleen Barakat, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Tamara Khandaker.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, more trouble in the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 0:14.0 | The United Arab Emirates says it has intercepted a number of missile strikes from Iran. |
| 0:20.0 | A large fire has broken out at a petroleum facility in the port area of Fujaira. |
| 0:25.6 | As Iran attacks the UAE again, we look ahead to a long hot summer of energy shortfalls. |
| 0:35.1 | I'm Kevin Erten, and this is The Take. |
| 0:45.8 | Before we continue with today's show, remember to leave us a comment telling us what you think about this episode. |
| 0:51.4 | We do read them, and it helps us shape future episodes. What do you think |
| 0:55.1 | about this topic? Are you worried about the energy shortfalls that are coming this summer? |
| 0:59.5 | And if you're on your favorite podcast app, remember to leave us a five-star review. It does help |
| 1:04.2 | the show. I'm Jim Crane. I'm the Diana Tamari Sabak Fellow for Middle East Energy Studies at Rice University's Baker Institute in Houston, Texas. |
| 1:17.6 | Jim Crane, it's great to have you on the take. So for those who don't know, your backstory, you're an author, a former newspaper reporter, and now a leading authority on Middle East energy geopolitics. |
| 1:30.0 | So in short, you're a perfect person to talk to as we head into, you know, what could be a very long, hot, and, I think, turbulent summer. |
| 1:38.4 | So just to sort of set the scene, the price of oil has really skyrocketed since the war in Iran. |
| 1:45.0 | The global Medchmark price, Brent, hit $126 a barrel last week. |
| 1:50.5 | So that's about $20 short of the all-time record back in 2008. |
| 1:54.7 | So I guess, Jim, for starters, how are you feeling about the moment we're in right now? |
| 1:59.2 | Are we overreacting or underreacting? How does this crisis rank for you? |
| 2:04.5 | Well, you know, as far as crises goes, I mean, there's a lot more than the oil price in it. So if you look at the oil price side of the crisis, I'd say, you know, we are reacting probably about right. I mean, I'm not somebody that likes to second |
| 2:19.1 | guess oil market traders and, you know, folks that have all that trading algorithms and, you know, |
| 2:27.0 | super computers, et cetera. So, you know, price is probably about right for the moment that we're in |
| 2:34.1 | because there's so much uncertainty in both |
... |
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