Global News Podcast - UAE quits oil cartel Opec after six decades

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

The United Arab Emirates says quitting the Opec and Opec+ groups of major oil producing nations will provide more flexibility. The move is being seen as a blow to the groups' de facto leader Saudi Arabia. Also, Russia has accused Ukraine of destabilising global energy markets after renewed drone strikes caused a huge fire at an oil refinery in the Black Sea port of Tuapse. At least 15 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a long distance train smashed into a stationary commuter train outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta. An Austrian man has pleaded guilty to planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024. King Charles is due to address Congress as part of a state visit to the United States. He'll underline the history of co-operation between Britain and the US amid differences over the war in Iran. A study in the effects of isolation on astronauts, SOLIS100, has begun in Germany. One of India's wealthiest men, Anant Ambani, is offering to save the lives of eighty hippos in Colombia once owned by the late drugs baron Pablo Esbocar.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankara to say, and in the afternoon of Tuesday the 28th of April, these are our main stories. The United Arab Emirates says it's quitting OPEC and OPEC Plus, dealing a heavy blow to the Saudi-led oil cartels. Ukrainian drone strikes have caused a huge fire at a Russian oil refinery in the Black Seaport of Tuftwapse. And details of a crash in Indonesia where at least 15 people were killed when a long-distance train, smashed into a stationary commuter train east of the capital, Jakarta. Also in this podcast, an Austrian man has pleaded guilty to planning a terror attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago.

A member of India's wealthiest family, the Embanis, is offering to save the lives of 80 hippos, threatened with being culled. The animals are currently in Colombia, having been introduced to the country by the late drugs baron Pablo Escobar. And the family of Kenya's new marathon world record holder prepared to welcome him home. When I saw Sebastian pull ahead, I was so excited. I started celebrating and did not even watch the end of the race. The United Arab Emirates says it's leaving the group of oil-producing countries OPEC and OPEC plus after six decades.

In a statement, the UAE described the decision as being part of its long-term strategic and economic vision. The decision is being seen as a heavy blow to the groups and. and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, as the war on Iran continues to cause major disruptions to energy supplies. Our business reporter Jonathan Joseph explains what it means for global oil supplies. It's going to lessen the grip of OPEC on the global oil market. OPEC is a group of 12, soon to be 11 oil-producing countries that control around a third, perhaps a little bit more, of the global oil market.

They decide how much oil they're going to put onto. to the market and therefore that has a major influence in terms of supplies. But of course, America and Russia are also up there. America is the world's biggest oil producers still. So it also has a lot of clout. But OPEC without the UAE will have less influence. UAE is a significant exit for OPEC because it's one of the few countries in OPEC that has a significant amount of spare capacity, which means that it can respond to global events, that it can. change how much oil it's pumping out. It has obviously plans to do more. We've had a statement from the Energy Ministry, which is talking about this exit is going to happen on the 1st of May,

and it will help meet the changing demand in the global economy. Obviously, prices have been elevated because of the Iran War, trading at more than $110 a barrel for most of the last week, which is significantly above where they were before this conflict began. And this statement also saying that the country is the UAE is going to gradually ramp up its production. Well, John Svakyanakis is the chief economist at the Gulf Research Centre. He gave his reaction to the development to Lucy Hawkins. This is huge and clearly highlights the tension that has existed for quite some time between the UAE and OPEC and specifically Saudi Arabia. This is a moment of tension for also the relations.

between the two countries. A lot of people expected, at least those in the energy markets, that the UAE would decide at some point. There was a lot of rumor over the last year, two years, that the UAE is going to exit. They finally did it. I think the justification is the war, and now it's the time for them to go at it alone,

which means that OPEC, of course, is going to be effectively Saudi Arabia in some of the other countries. Very important move, however. A big move, but in terms of the UAE, what are its plans now? What's it going to do, presumably increase production, John? Absolutely, Lucy.

They already invested a huge amounts of money, upwards of $150 billion, to take production now to 5 million barrels by 2027, but they have a plan to extract more oil off the ground, to take capacity to 6 million barrels, which means that Saudi Arabia, which has the capacity of 11.5 million, it's going to be a contender. And they will pump more oil, which means that more supply. And that is going to be an issue.

But the UAE wants to clearly extract oil, benefit from that, and to get out of the difficulties of being an OPEC member to contest and has been contesting for a long time with Saudi Arabia as to the price, the quota. The quota, which allows the UAE to produce 3 to 3 million barrels, capacity, as I said, 4 and a half right now, close to 5, is always an issue, was always an issue. And they wanted to pump more, produce more money. And now they said we're going at it alone. That's it. Thank you. So this means lower prices? This potentially could lead to lower prices. Once we get out of this unbelievable crisis, which is creating huge demand destruction, over the years,

the UAE will push for more production, absolutely, but for now we're going to stay at these elevated and even more so high oil prices as the issue of Iran and the Iran crisis continues. John Sakenakis, the chief economist at the Gulf Research Center speaking to Lucy Hawking's. Staying with oil and in Russia, the Kremlin has accused Ukraine of destabilizing global energy markets after renewed drone strikes caused a huge fire at a Russian oil. refinery. Ukraine has targeted the facility in the black seaports of Tuopse several times this month. The attacks have badly damaged the environment with thick black smoke billowing from the site. Ukraine says it strikes energy facilities because they fund Russia's continuing invasion.

Russian state media say President Putin has ordered the emergencies minister to visit Tuopse to oversee firefighting efforts. I heard more from the news editor from the BBC Russian service, Famil Ismailo. This is the third time. The port of Tuopsy itself and this major refinery had been hit by the Ukrainian drones. And the refinery itself is quite a big facility. It has a high volume production, about 240,000 barrels of oil go through it every day. It is owned by Ross Neft, Russia's major oil company, and it had completed to stop production because the storage facilities had been hit. And you could see that from the satellite pictures that it completely burned out. refinery itself produces heavy oils and they go to China, Malaysia, Turkey.

But there's also the port. The port itself is a federal-level cargo port facility at number three in terms of cargo exports, imports, on the Black Sea for Russia. So it's quite a big deal. Yeah. And it's also having a big impact, I imagine, on the local people and the environment as well because of the repeated drone attacks. Absolutely.

That's the worst, because the locals are just trying to survive. and this is not just the industrial town, it's also a seaside resort town. And lots of people, you know, they were waiting to go to the beaches. The season is just starting. You know, it's coming to May holidays. And all that is now ruined.

And more than that, last week, we saw in the local chats that there's been a so-called black rain in the city. So everything, houses, pets, even when they went out, animals, trees, cars had been covered in suit and in some places even little drops of oil. And that takes time to clean and that's really not healthy

because as the local authorities reported, the concentration of harmful particles in the air exceeds the acceptable levels two, three times. Famila, how much of a financial impact is this going to have on Russia's war effort? It's going to be sizable. In terms of losses, we're talking about 800 billion rubles. At the moment, this is just about,

bit more than $10 billion, just on Tuopse. Accumulative losses from Ukrainian strikes are much bigger because the Ukrainians managed to get to the far-flung facilities. Some of those like Ustluga on the Baltic Sea, millions or thousands of miles from the front line had been hit. And Usts-Luga is a major oil export facility. But we're talking, and also it will take now time to restore the production, to restore their storage,

to fill up the... But the major thing is morale. because the morale among Russian population is going to hit hard as well. Famil Ismailov. And we have more on this on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find a global news podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. Now we go to Indonesia, where at least 15 people have been killed and dozens of passengers injured

after a long-distance train smashed into a stationary commuter train. Most of the dead are women. A women-only carriage bore the brunt of the impact. You can hit the sound. There are rescue teams that had to race to free some survivors following the deadly train crash near the capital, Jakarta. The tragedy happened after an electric taxi broke down on an intersection of train track. A train hit the taxi.

That accident in itself didn't lead to any fatalities. But a commuter train waiting further down the line and able to move past the crash site was struck from behind by. a long-distance train traveling from the island of Java. Ajikata correspondent Astu Destra Agin Grastri spoke to me earlier. Basically, there were three different trains and one car involved in that accident, but all of the victims and the casualties were coming from the train that got hit by the long-distance train. And you've also been hearing from survivors?

Yeah, so BBC Indonesia spoke with survivors. Many of them say that everything happened extremely fast, even within seconds. So when the crash occurred, they say it suddenly went dark and the air becomes suffocating, making it very difficult to breathe. One survivor who we spoke to say that they felt like they had already died. So mind you that the train is a very efficient transportation for Indonesians. It's cheap and it's fast. So every time on a rush hour, like after office, it is very full until about 10 p.m.

It's always packed and full. And of course, the woman carriage, it's all female passengers in there. But also most of them are bringing like their babies and then elderly. So lots of vulnerable people that is on that carriage. And Asadestra, when it comes to the public transport system in Indonesia, just tell us a bit about that because it's got an aging infrastructure and poor maintenance. So are accidents like this quite common? It's actually, yes, it's quite common, especially for the railway. So our railway system, a lot of it are still coming from when the Dutch colonelize Indonesia, which is more than 80 to 100 years ago. So it's very old, but maintenance is also not quite good. So accidents like this rarely happened, but it happened.

And when it happened, it involved a lot of casualties. The president, Praboso Bianto, today, while visiting the survivors in hospitals, he said that he acknowledged that these infrastructures need to be renewed, and he pledged to find a solution to actually prevent. and things like this to happen again in the future. Adjikata, correspondent Astodestra Agingrastri. Now to an animal rescue story on a big scale in more ways than one. A member of India's richest family, Anand Thambani,

is offering to save 80 hippos in Colombia that are at risk of being culled. A global affairs reporter Paul Moss told me more about how they came to be there. This was because of a man, I think many in our audience, will have heard of Pablo Escobar, the famous Colombian drugs lord, regarded as called the king of cocaine, possibly the richest criminal literally in history. A man, yeah, mainly involved in the cocaine trade, but with a sideline in murdering his opponents. And like many people with great wealth and power, he was accused of becoming something of a megalomaniac. And at one point he decided he fancied having some hippos on his estate.

So, you know, as casually as you or me might get ourselves a cat or dog, he had four hippos flown in. Now, Pablo Escobar was eventually killed in a shootout, at which, point the hippos escaped and since then they've been living wild and crucially breeding. There are now more than 200 of these enormous animals eating local vegetation and they're accused of also attacking fishermen and at one point invading a school. So Colombia decided that they were going to cull 80 of these animals. This caused a huge outcry and as you say, Anand Ambani has now offered to fly these 80 hippos to India and house them in his own private zoo. Right, so tell us a bit more about him and why he exactly wants to do this.

Well, he's from one of the, as you said, the wealthiest family in India. They are valued at nearly $100 billion. And just as Pablo Escobar has huge wealth and also influence, the Ambani's too, though I obviously should stress their wealth was acquired legally. Yes, the Sunanair, who famously had a wedding last year, which costs more than $500 million, wants to put these animals in his private zoo. He's offered to fly them to India and do it all himself privately. So how has this idea gone down and the practicalities around it?

Well, you know, Ambani's zoo is already controversial. It's a private place. The public aren't admitted. Last year, India's Supreme Court ordered an investigation into whether animals there were being mistreated. More seriously, though, there has been a criticism that animals are being kept in the zoo that aren't really suited to Gujarat's climate. Now, ironically, that was said exactly the same thing was said when Pablo Escobar brought the hippos to Colombia. And conservationists are worried anyway about this. zoo. They're worried that animals are kept there that aren't suitable for the climate. Anand Barni has issued a statement saying these animals didn't choose where they're born. They're living sentient beings. We have a responsibility to try to save them. So he thinks he's doing a good deed. Whether that

will impress the conservationists who are worried, we're going to have to wait and see. Global Affairs reporter Paul Moss. Still to come in this podcast. How to create a team that can work. together for such long period of time, how to counter any issues a team could have in isolation in confinement. We explain how six volunteers are going to isolate themselves in a sealed pod for months and simulate a potential mission to Mars. This is the Global News Podcast. Taylor-Swiss-Eiress tour, which spanned 149 shows across five continents, was the highest grossing of all time.

But her opening concert in the Austrian capital, Vienna in 2024, narrowly avoided ending in tragedy after a bomb plot was foiled. A 21-year-old man is on trial in Vienna, charged with terrorism and other offences. Our Vienna correspondent, Bethany Bell, has been in court. This 21-year-old man who's been named only as Beran A, in line with Austrian privacy laws, has admitted guilty to the charges concerning the Taylor Swift concerts. He also pleaded guilty to being a member of a terrorist organization.

that he pleaded not guilty to some of the other charges he's facing, including planning an attack in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. He appeared in court this morning, escorted by security officials wearing masks. He was handcuffed. The handcuffs were taken off him when he was brought into court. And we heard from the prosecution saying how a nearly completed bomb was found at his house after he was arrested because of a tip-off from the same.

CIA just before the first Taylor Swift concert in August 24. Do we know any further on what he was planning to do at all? The prosecution said that he had been trying to buy weapons illegally and bringing them into Austria. They say that he'd got instructions from the internet about how to construct a shrapnel bomb. And a shrapnel bomb, they say, is something that is very characteristic of Islamic State. They also say that he had sworn allegiance to Islamic State. This trial is expected to go on until the end of May. Just very, very briefly, Bethany, it had a big impact, didn't it,

locally within Vienna and in Austria, across the city? Not just in Austria. People had come from across the world to go to those Taylor Swift concerts, all three of which had to be cancelled. I met fans at the time who'd flown in all the way from California. in Asia, and there was a real sense of great disappointment, fans in tears handing out friendship bracelets and singing in the end of Vienna. Bethany Bell reporting from Vienna. To the US now, as King Charles III and Queen Camilla are on day two of a four-day state visit.

So far it's all been very manicured with cups of Earl Grey Tea and a garden party on the lawn of the British Embassy. There's much anticipation of the King's visit to Congress later. It comes at a time of heightened diplomatic tension between both countries over NATO, Greenland, Ukraine and the Chegos Islands. And President Trump has openly criticised British Prime Minister Kirstama many times, most recently over his refusal to support him in the offensive against Iran. As we record this podcast, President Trump is giving the King and Queen a ceremonial welcome to the United States at the White House. For what we can expect later, here's our correspondent in Washington, Shyamika-Lil. We're expecting King Charles to be in the building that I'm looking at right now,

the capital, where he's going to address a joint meeting of Congress. And this is really the centerpiece of his visit. This is where he gets to send a message from the UK to the United States. And it comes, as you were mentioning there, tense times between those two countries, that special relationship being tested. Because time and time again, we've heard President Trump, lambast and criticized the British Prime Minister, Sirkeir Starmour,

for what he sees as the lack of support from the United Kingdom in the war with Iran. The Prime Minister has always said that he's acting in the country's interests. Now, we are expecting him to say that the countries have always found a way to come together, even though sometimes they don't see eye to eye. He is going to also express sympathy about what happened Saturday, because remember, this royal visit comes just a couple of days. after that shocking night on Saturday, the third attempt on the life of President Trump when an alleged gunman tried to storm the ballroom during a media gala.

So yes, of course, security is tight because of this royal visit, but I think it's been notched up with a sense of tension because of what happened on Saturday. Okay, Shama, it's a careful balancing act, isn't it, for King Charles III? Yes. Because he can't get too political. And Donald Trump has always said that he loves the royal family. He loves the king. So is there a lot of pressure because I guess the UK government will be thinking, okay, he has some soft power.

What can he deliver? I think what he can deliver is what you can read between the lines. Yes, he cannot get too political, too directly, if you will. And yes, he has a little bit of leverage because of that soft power. And I would say, and I would also say because of that personal chemistry between the two men, because unlike the turbulent relationship that Donald Trump has with Kier Starmor, you'll find that he has a lot of affinity for the monarch, that he's described him as a great man, a brave man.

He said that absolutely this visit could repair the relationship between the two countries. So when they were sitting down yesterday, for example, there was a sit-down that was meant to last for 20 minutes. It lasts for double that amount. So you could see that there is that chemistry between them. But of course, there are bigger issues, the relationship between the two countries. But also remember that Donald Trump has also lambasted NATO

and he'll speak about that as well. Shamakalit reporting. Next, if the Artemis II mission earlier this month made you all excited about space, gave you a glamourized view of maybe one day experiencing it for yourself, then it's time to provide some balance. Over to our reporter, Woolchalk, to bring us all back down to Earth.

I think while the idea of going to space might seem attractive to a lot of us, the reality is if you're going to Mars, say, that's six months of travelling in extremely close quarters with your fellow astronauts. And if by the time you get to Mars you all hate each other, well, that's not ideal to say the least. So that is why six brave volunteers have just started the European Space Agency's Solis 100 isolation study. So they're spending 100 days locked in a small building together.

No sex, no alcohol, no daylight, only tin food. They have to exercise for an hour a day, but they can only shower twice a week. The only contact they'll have with the outside world is a weekly video call. and also shoving their arm through a hatch for a regular blood test, but they're not allowed to make eye contact with the people doing it. And just to be perfectly clear, they will never actually be leaving Earth. The space station in question is rooted to the ground in Germany. Okay, so who on Earth would actually want to do this?

We don't know their names, but we know their age between 26 and 36 from six different European countries. They do get paid. It's around $27,000. and they are currently doing this experiment. They're currently spending their days doing exactly what they do in space and following a strict daily schedule. Now, this is actually a repeat of an experiment that was ran in 2010,

and that one went on for 520 days, six male volunteers in a fake space station in a car park in Russia. This is a taster of the video diary of one of the participants, Diego Urbina. Simple things such as the blue sky, such as, I don't know, going dancing in the evening. I love that. And here I am not able to do it. My family, I miss them a lot and my friends. Now, another man who took part 15 years ago is Romaine Charles.

He has been speaking today in honour of this new experiment starting. When we think about going further in space exploration, the human factor is still a big question, how to create a team that can work together for such a long period of time, trying to get finer and finer markers of how to counter any issues a team could have in isolation, in confinement. So quite good, I think, Unka, this experiment in putting life into perspective because I think we all get annoyed with our colleagues, with our family, with our friends sometimes, but we can all be thankful that we're not locked in a small room of them for 100 days somewhere in Germany.

Will Chalk reporting. Let's go to Kenya's Rift Valley Province now and the village of the record-breaking marathon runner Sebastian Saoey. They've been celebrating there since the 31-year-old became the first person to run the distance in under two hours in London at the weekend. His parents say his achievement will change not only their lives, but those of the whole community. Our Africa correspondent Barbara Platasha reports.

At the Sawe family home, Sebastian's parents, relatives and neighbours welcomed us with social. song. Praising the man who's made marathon history, the first athlete to run a competitive race in less than two hours. Remarkably, a moment that Sebastian's father, Simeon, missed. So vibrant were the celebrations here. I did not expect he was going to break the record.

That really surprised us all. I was afraid the runner from Ethiopia would beat him. When I saw Sebastian pull ahead, I was so excited. I started celebrating and did not even watch the end of the race. I was very happy. I thank God. I jumped around the house. I just didn't know what to do. I was so happy. Emily Sebastian's mother takes the lead. Thank you so much, my son, for the marvelous things you have done, she sings. Her son is a man from modest beginnings in rural Kenya, but his parents tell us their lives are now set to change along with his. We are so grateful and thank God, they say.

He has really lifted us up and will give back to the community. The truth is, he promised us that he's going to build us a house. And he said he would buy us a car, so we won't be walking on foot anymore. He also promised he will finish building the church here. Big changes for you. Sebastian is special, but he's not alone. Many elite marathon runners have come from this part of the world. It's raining here right now, but the western highlands of Kenya

are the global capital of high altitude training for distance running. It helps athletes build their endurance and their lung capacity. At the moment, Sebastian is still enjoying the limelight in London, and that will certainly continue when he returns to Kenya, say his parents. We are planning to welcome him, to have a celebration and a Thanksgiving. because he has done wonders. We wanted to have the celebrations for him before, but he said no, wait until I break the world record.

So now we will ask him if we are free to go ahead with the celebration. This time they won't take no for an answer. It's an incredible achievement for Kenya that's reverberating around the world and will be a hero's welcome for the world. the local boy who delivered it. Barbara Pletasher, reporting from Kenya. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.co.uk.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. You can use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget, ask this to podcast, the global story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Tom Wurton. Waterworth and the producer was Alice Adley. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm on Kroa Dissai. Until next time, goodbye.