There seems to be little movement on the resumption of talks between the U.S. and Iran

to end the war that the Americans launched alongside Israel over two months ago.

There's also almost no movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital bottleneck that's essentially cut off 20% of the world's oil and gas supply.

Last week saw the fewest crossings since the war began.

Today, the United Arab Emirates announced it will leave OPEC,

the cartel that's largely controlled global oil supplies for decades,

leading to more uncertainty and questions about when the financial pain will stop.

For perspective, we're joined now by Karen Young, a political economist and senior research scholar

at Columbia University.

Great to see you.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

So the UAE has been rumored to want to leave OPEC for some time now.

Why now?

Was the war in Iran the last draw?

No, I think actually this timing is probably the least disruptive because this doesn't

change volumes that are going out tomorrow.

The UAE can't increase its production and get to market any faster because the Strait

of Hormuz is blocked and they're at capacity for the oil that's flowing through the pipeline

through Fugera.

So it doesn't change anything from a

market and supply perspective. But yes, it's true. Within OPEC, the UAE had the most stringent

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