European Union countries discussed releasing 50 million barrels of diesel on Friday, Oct. 2, after Washington urged Europe to help lower fuel prices and warned that the United States might ban exports. The EU proposal would pair that release with 50 million barrels of crude oil from International Energy Agency (IEA) members. EU capitals, though, hold the final say over European stockpiles.
That proposed diesel release equals about 17% of the EU’s total emergency diesel and gasoil stocks and around 3% of the bloc’s annual fuel consumption, based on Eurostat data current as of May 2025. Consumers worldwide face high prices. Brussels officials are discussing how much fuel to release, but the governments holding the reserves make the final call.
Washington sets the terms
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Europe to make additional supplies available “immediately.” In a post on X, he wrote: “Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions.” He added: “American farmers, truckers, and businesses should not be left carrying the burden of a global diesel shortage. America is doing its part. We look to our allies to match their commitments with action.”
EU diplomats who spoke anonymously called the U.S. tone “rough” and said Washington wasn’t sending “gentle diplomatic messages.” The United States was weighing a potential 90-day diesel export ban, while President Donald Trump had floated banning exports to contain domestic fuel prices ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Reuters reported that the administration told Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories or face a possible ban. One source said the United States demanded that major European countries, including France and Germany, release 100 million barrels within a 20-day window.
European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said: “We fully reject any ban on diesel. A ban would not be beneficial to anyone. It would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner.” One Reuters source said EU countries discussed making any agreement on diesel-stock releases conditional on a U.S. commitment not to impose a unilateral export ban. So much for frictionless alliance talk: fuel supplies have become leverage between governments.
Reserves, markets and the price shock
EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen called a strategic-reserve release “a possibility.” “We are discussing with all members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), not only the United States, when the right time is to release, because this is one of the opportunities that we have. We've used it before, and we'll likely use it again,” he told Europe Today on Thursday. EU countries and the European Commission met under the Commission’s crisis-monitoring and coordination table for energy security. Ireland’s Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment described the diesel market as “very tight.”
The G7 later agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from reserves over four months, with a substantial diesel release scheduled within the first 20 days, according to a joint statement released by Macron’s office. Britain, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and the United States said they would “refrain from export restrictions on energy” between them. Their leaders said: “Our citizens' concerns about energy prices remain a top priority.”
Supply disruptions stem from the war in Iran, reduced refining capacity and interruptions to shipments. Ukraine damaged many of Russia’s refineries, after which Russia imposed an export ban, while Chinese refiners suspended October fuel exports to bolster domestic stocks. Europe once relied mainly on Russian and Middle Eastern diesel imports, but in recent years it increasingly turned to U.S. imports. In March, the IEA agreed to a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of strategic oil reserves in response to the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Fatih Birol said members had released about two-thirds of that volume.
Fiscal rules meet household bills
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for more room under EU fiscal rules to support households and businesses. Meloni wrote that oil prices were up almost 80% and gas up to 156%, and that agreed spending paths left “limited room to alleviate the impact on households and firms without resorting to tightening measures.” She asked Brussels to let governments use at least some additional revenue for “temporary and targeted measures” against high energy prices.
The rules limit spending in nominal terms, while some costs, including pensions linked to the cost of living, can rise automatically with prices. Meloni said inflation-affected spending exceeding the assumptions in Italy’s budget plan amounted to 20.4% of GDP, with another 12% of GDP in expenditure expected to come under pressure in 2027. She asked finance ministers to discuss the issue at their meeting in Brussels on Oct. 9. The relief question now runs through the same machinery that sets limits on government spending as prices climb.