Leaders of G7 nations are to release up to 100m barrels of their emergency diesel and crude oil stockpiles after coming under pressure from Donald Trump to ease surging fuel prices. The drawdown of reserves from some of the world’s largest economies will be coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and will take place within four months, according to France’s president, Emmanuel Macron. Macron is the current chair of the G7 – which also includes the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan – and he confirmed the move on Friday following a leaders’ video meeting.
Macron said G7 nations wanted to “work in a coordinated manner to help bring down the prices of petroleum products, particularly diesel”. European countries had come under pressure from the White House in recent days to release emergency supplies or face a US diesel export ban. Trump has said he is considering stopping diesel exports to help lower domestic fuel prices before the US midterm elections in November.
Macron said G7 members and partners would front-load a substantial diesel release within the first 20 days. He added that G7 leaders had agreed to make production more flexible so refineries can work at their maximum capacity, and that they would not take any measures to “restrict the exchange of energy and petroleum products between partner countries”. The G7 leaders said they would discuss the “possibility of additional diesel releases as necessary” in the coming days.
A US export ban would have presented a considerable challenge for Europe, which produces about 70% of the diesel it consumes from domestic refineries, but relies on imports to make up the shortfall. Oil analysts had also raised concerns that competition for diesel cargoes on the global market would push prices even higher. The average price of diesel climbed to a record high of £2 a litre on UK forecourts on Friday, putting more pressure on motorists.
The cost of filling up an average family car is now £110, according to the RAC motoring group, nearly £32 more than before the Iran war. Simon Williams, the head of policy at the RAC, said: “This is a pump price threshold that no one wanted to cross.” The RAC figures measure the average cost of fuel, but in reality many forecourts have been selling diesel above £2 a litre for some time. Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he welcomed the release of more reserves: “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked diesel oil.
The process will begin immediately.” However, Macquarie Group’s Walt Chancellor said release of the reserves would not address the underlying problem in the US. Nor is it a refined product problem. It may not even be a petroleum problem.
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