Published Fri, Oct 2, 2026 · 11:28 PM
[LONDON] The world’s wealthiest industrial nations agreed on Friday (Oct 2) to release diesel from their reserve stockpiles, to help ease a growing crisis over record-high prices driven mostly by the war in Iran.
Under the plan, the Group of Seven nations – the US, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Britain and Canada – will release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from their strategic stockpiles over the coming four months.
That is equivalent to around one day’s worth of global oil demand. The effort will be coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Calling the plan “decisive, coordinated measures to stabilise immediate energy supplies” and curb price spikes, the G7 nations said in a statement that they would also make a “substantial” release of diesel within 20 days.
The group did not specify how much of the fuel to be released would be diesel and how much would be unrefined crude oil.
Diesel and related fuels make up roughly 28 per cent of the world’s oil demand, according to the IEA, and have been in especially short supply because military strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East and Russia have severely damaged refineries, reducing the world’s capacity to turn oil into the fuels that consumers use.
The decision comes amid threats by US President Donald Trump to impose a ban on the export of American diesel. That move that has drawn fierce opposition from both US oil companies and European leaders.
Retail diesel prices had soared to nearly US$6.50 a gallon in recent weeks, putting pressure on Trump and Republicans to find ways to lower prices before the midterm elections in November.
“Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked diesel oil,” Trump said on social media of the G7 announcement.
French President Emmanuel Macron of France, who is the current chair the G7, convened the video conference of leaders, saying that Trump had committed to not impose an export ban on diesel fuel.
“We cannot wholly rule out export constraints governing destinations outside the G7, but odds now look lower,” said Clearview, an energy research firm in Washington, in a note to clients on Friday.
Macron said that he expected the release of emergency oil and diesel to cause petrol and fuel prices to “drop at the pump as quickly as possible”.
The price of diesel futures in the US fell 8 per cent on Friday morning. Prices that consumers pay at the pump typically follow, albeit more slowly.
An export ban by the US on diesel would have been deeply damaging in Europe, which has become increasingly dependent on American fuel since banning Russian imports over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Europe imports about 1.5 million barrels a day, with a third coming from the US, according to market data firm S&P Global.
“Europe has been very reluctant to let go of their stocks because they are concerned about a prolonged disruption, and they wish to hoard the supplies they have,” said Robert McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, a research and consulting firm in Washington.
China, another big diesel supplier, recently started restricting fuel exports again. So far, Trump has not followed suit.
The more time passes, the less effective a US export ban would be at lowering domestic diesel prices before the November elections. It also would risk pushing up the price of petrol, which fuels many more vehicles in the US. NYTIMES
