04/05/2026

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | MAY 4, 2026

18

UAE dumping Opec may not affect oil market as anticipated

Meta trial in New Mexico could force

platform changes NEW MEXICO: A trial beginning in New Mexico today could prompt a judge to order sweeping changes to how Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp operate – a move Meta Platforms has warned could force it to withdraw from the state. The case, which will be tried before a judge in Santa Fe, stems from a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney -Gneral Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, accusing the social media giant of designing its products to addict young users and failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its plat forms. At the heart of the trial is whether Meta’s platforms have created a “public nuisance” under New Mexico law. That finding would allow the judge to order wide ranging remedies aimed at curbing alleged harms to young users. The case is being closely watched as states, municipalities and school districts across the country pursue similar claims seeking to force changes at the industry level. Today’s trial marks the second phase of New Mexico’s lawsuit. A jury in March found Meta violated the state’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users. It ordered the company to pay US$375 million (RM1.5 billion) in damages. Criticism of children’s safety on social media has been mounting for years. On Wednesday, Meta warned investors that legal and regulatory blowback in the European Union and the US “could significantly impact our business and financial results.” Torrez’s office is expected to seek both billions of dollars more in damages and an order requiring Meta to make substantial changes to its platforms for New Mexico users, according to court filings. Meta has said it has already addressed many of the state’s concerns and taken extensive measures to ensure its young users are safe. The company said in court filings last week that many of the changes Torrez’s office is seeking are impossible for it to comply with and may force it to withdraw from the state entirely. “The New Mexico Attorney General’s focus on a single platform is a misguided strategy that ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use daily,“ a Meta spokesman said in a statement ahead of the trial. “Rather than providing protections, the state’s proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans.” The trial before Judge Bryan Biedscheid will examine whether Meta’s conduct meets the standard for a public nuisance under New Mexico law, which would allow the court to impose remedies aimed at abating the alleged harm. A public nuisance claim targets activities that unreasonably interfere with the health and safety of a community. Classic examples include blocking a public road, polluting a waterway or emitting noxious fumes. – Reuters

Spirit, known for its bright yellow planes, succumbed to crushing fuel prices and announced in the early hours that it was “winding down its global operations, effective immediately,“ with all flights cancelled and customer service no longer available. Other carriers – including American, Delta, United and JetBlue – moved quickly to scoop up Spirit’s customers, offering what some dubbed “rescue fares” to those waking up with cancelled itineraries. “In just over 12 hours, United has helped Spirit customers book 14,000 tickets to get to where they need to be,“ United said in a statement on Saturday. Some airlines said they would increase the number of flights or schedule larger planes in and out of airports where Spirit had a significant presence. Carriers also sought to support marooned Spirit staff – and hire them. Spirit has been in and out of bankruptcy since 2024, and the White House was recently considering a bailout. “The recent material increase in oil prices and other pressures on the business have significantly impacted Spirit’s financial outlook,“ the company said in a statement. “With no additional funding available to the company, Spirit had no THE United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) withdrawal from Opec is widely seen as lessening the clout of the producer group and initiating a race to boost output, ultimately resulting in sharply lower crude oil prices. However, the US and Israeli war against Iran has upended global crude markets to such an extent that expecting what might otherwise seem the most obvious outcome is likely flawed thinking. It may be the case that the UAE decision to leave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) does substantially weaken the group, and there may ultimately be more crude supplied by the UAE once, or perhaps if, pre-war shipment volume resumes through the Strait of Hormuz. But these two outcomes are not the only possible consequences, nor are they as guaranteed as they may seem. The first question is just how damaged Opec is by the move. Losing the fourth-largest producer in the group is a blow. An important fact is that the UAE, along with Opec de facto leader Saudi Arabia, are the two exporters most able to ramp up production rapidly. But the 65-year-old producer group has weathered departures

great politically for Trump and his Republican party, but if this is the outcome it does underscore that the mercurial US leader is not necessarily as big a friend of his own country’s energy industry as he claims to be. But the main question mark over the UAE move is whether this will indeed result in a volume and price war. The UAE was shipping about 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) prior to the Feb 28 US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the resulting effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Most analysts estimate that the UAE could increase fairly rapidly to 4.5 million bpd and hit 5 million bpd in the medium term. This of course assumes that the Strait of Hormuz is fully and sustainably re-opened at some point, which given the current trajectory of the conflict and the seeming lack of progress between the warring parties is far from certain. But even assuming the strait returns to pre-war flows, at least for crude oil, will the extra barrels that the UAE may supply be enough to spark a significant price correction? Much depends not only on what other exporters do, but also on what tactics importers adopt. Do importers try to rebuild

before and still managed to remain relevant, and exercise influence over the supply – and therefore the price – of global crude oil. Angola left in 2024, Qatar in 2020, Ecuador for the second time also in 2020, Indonesia in 2016 and Gabon in 1995, although Gabon later rejoined. It could be argued that none of these countries were as significant as the UAE, although Angola and Qatar would still count as major losses. It would be a brave energy analyst to back a view that Saudi Arabia, along with Opec+ member Russia, are weakened substantially because of the loss of a member that produced about 12% of Opec’s output. Much will depend on how Saudi Arabia and Russia respond and whether they decide to enter a volume and price war. Such a move would not really be aimed at forcing the UAE to keep production discipline. It would more be aimed at pushing high-cost producers out of the market, with the primary target being US shale output. While US President Donald Trump has welcomed the UAE decision to leave Opec, the irony is that if the move does result in a volume and price war, it is US energy companies that will bear the brunt. Falling retail fuel prices may be

depleted inventories as rapidly as possible, fearful of another Middle East conflict, or do they take a measured approach in the expectation of moderating prices? China, the world’s biggest crude importer, has traditionally built stockpiles up during periods of low prices and cut imports when prices rise to levels its refiners view as too high. Will China even bother restocking given it has not used much of its massive inventories, estimated to be at least 1.2 billion barrels. US crude exports are likely to fall back once the Strait of Hormuz is fully open, but how rapidly it will rebuild inventories is less certain. There are also questions as to how quickly production in the Middle East can return to pre-war levels, given that fields have been shut and facilities damaged by drones and missiles. Simply put, the Iran conflict has created too many variables, meaning that any conclusions on how the UAE withdrawal from Opec will affect the group and the wider supply-demand balance carry an unusually high degree of uncertainty. The views expressed here are bailout of an airline.” Duffy blamed the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden for blocking a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue in March 2024 – and assured ticket holders that they would get refunds. Florida resident Ramon, 60, said he had planned to visit family in Honduras this week. He and his son Kevin saw headlines in recent days about Spirit’s woes and contacted the airline, but opted not to take a refund offer, as alternative flights were more expensive and there were no immediate signs that the airline would fold. Launched in 1992, Spirit Airlines became one of the first low-cost carriers in the US. Between February 2025 and January 2026, it carried some 28 million passengers, according to government data. At the same time, it has been limping along since announcing bankruptcy in November 2024 and again in August 2025. In late February, Spirit said it had reached an “agreement in principle” to restructure its debts and that it expected to emerge from bankruptcy by early summer. Days later, the US and Israel began bombing Iran, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which sent jet fuel prices soaring. Hopes of a White House bailout began to fade last week as oil prices spiked and creditors were reportedly furious with the stake the government planned to take in the company. – AFP those of Clyde Russell, a columnist for Reuters.

US airlines step up as Spirit winds down WASHINGTON: US air carriers on Saturday mobilised to help passengers and crew members stranded by the overnight shutdown of Spirit Airlines, after the low-cost carrier’s last-minute talks with creditors and the White House collapsed.

Spirit Airlines planes parked on the tarmac at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc has begun a wind-down of Spirit Airlines operations after failing to secure funding from the Trump administration. – AFPPIX

of Trump’s administration as a rescue plan never materialised. “The president was like a dog on a bone trying to figure out a way to keep Spirit afloat,“ Duffy told a press conference Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. “In the end, this was a creditor issue. Again, they have the final say of whether they want to do a deal with the government,“ he added. “But also from the government’s perspective, we often times don’t have a half a billion dollars laying around in a spare account that we can put into a President Donald

choice but to begin this wind-down.” It has promised refunds. The company had nearly 7,500 employees at the end of last year, according to filings. Unions representing them slammed the failure to reach a deal. “The pain of this decision will not be felt in boardrooms. It will be felt by pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, and ground crews, and by the families and communities that depend on them,“ said the Air Line Pilots Association. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy scrambled to defend the position