Some of the world’s wealthiest nations agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from their reserve stockpiles over the next four months in an effort to rein in runaway fuel prices. That amounts to around one day’s worth of global oil demand and includes a “frontloaded substantial diesel release” within the next 20 days.
“We condemn Iran’s continued attacks against its regional neighbours and its disruption of international trade, energy security and the global economy,” G-7 leaders said in a statement. The bloc—consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—requested that the International Energy Agency (IEA) monitor the release.
In recent days, US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an export ban on US diesel if European countries—specifically, France and Germany—do not do more to relieve high global energy costs, including by drawing down from their own emergency diesel inventories. Europe imports around 1.5 million barrels of diesel a day, half of which came from the United States in August. Meanwhile, China, another key diesel supplier, has recently begun restricting its own exports.
To avoid further disruption, Europe appears to have acquiesced to Washington’s demands. A coordinated G-7 release will cause fuel prices to “drop at the pump as quickly as possible,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic similarly stressed that “we have every interest in working together on lowering the prices, be it on diesel or also other products from oil and gas supplies.”
