Europe has reportedly agreed to draw down its emergency diesel stocks, bowing to a sustained US pressure campaign aimed at cooling fuel prices that have climbed to record levels. The agreement came together through the Group of Seven, which plans to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products over four months beginning immediately.
Diesel will dominate the opening weeks of that effort. The G7 statement committed to a “frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days by G7 members and partners,” with the International Energy Agency coordinating the release. France, which holds the group’s rotating presidency, made the announcement after President Emmanuel Macron chaired a videoconference of leaders on Friday.
“The process will begin immediately,” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, saying Europe had agreed to free up “a massive amount of their heavily stocked diesel oil.”
Behind the move were days of US pressure, including a threatened ban on American diesel exports unless the region tapped its reserves. Trump spoke with Macron on Thursday evening and dialed into the G7 leaders’ meeting on Friday to negotiate the drawdown, a White House official said. As the world’s largest exporter of the fuel that powers trucks, tractors and freight trains, the US could have hit Europe, a net importer, especially hard with such a ban. Analysts said that left the region little room to resist.
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The US-Iran war, now in its eighth month, has choked off crude and refined product flows from the Middle East. The US national average for a gallon of diesel stood at $6.37 on Friday, down roughly 5% after the coordinated release was announced and off the record $6.52 reached on Sept. 22. European benchmark prices have more than doubled since the conflict began.
Political stakes are high as well. Republicans face the Nov. 3 midterm elections and Trump’s economic approval ratings have hit a new low, according to an AP-NORC poll. The G7 also reaffirmed a pledge not to restrict energy exports among members. Even so, analysts cautioned that inventories cannot be drawn down forever if the underlying supply disruption drags on.
