More oil and diesel from emergency supplies to deal with soaring fuel prices. It is a "coordinated" release of at least 100 million barrels of crude oil to be placed on the market within "four months" that was agreed by the G7 to avoid the block on diesel exports threatened by Trump towards Europe. In a meeting called urgently by the French presidency, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan and the USA also agreed on a "substantial release" of diesel stocks over the next 20 days, avoiding a new conflict with the US president on the energy front.
"Europe has agreed to the release of a large quantity of its diesel reserves", claimed Donald Trump after having exerted strong pressure on European capitals, Paris and Berlin in the lead, to draw on their strategic oil reserves and cope with the surge in fuel prices driven by the war in the Middle East. Threatening a ban on diesel exports to Europe if there is no cooperation. The growing political sensitivity of fuel prices in the United States, with the mid-term elections just around the corner, also pushed Trump to raise his tone. Since the outbreak of the Hormuz crisis, the US has been among the main suppliers of diesel to Europe, with the share of diesel imports increasing from 21% in 2025 to 45% between April and May, to exceed 50% last August.
in Brussels as in Paris, the current rotating president of the G7, there have been frenetic hours trying to find a common line to avoid a ban that would have further aggravated tensions on the markets, with diesel prices more than "doubling" since last February and gas prices increasing by "140%", according to EU data. A ''clear signal of unity'' has arrived from the G7, claimed the French 'host' Emmanuel Macron, promoter of the proposal to release further emergency supplies in response to pressure from Trump. A coordinated action on stocks, aimed at diesel, also supported by Prime Minister Meloni, who relaunched the proposal for a structured dialogue between the G7 and the Gulf countries.
Brussels is also seeking a common line, after convening the energy task force this morning and a meeting of EU ambassadors from which reassurance emerged on the stability of supplies on the continent. "A ban would not be beneficial to anyone and would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner," the European executive had denounced. Of concern, in view of a tense winter, are the high energy prices which will slide to the top of the agenda of the next "European Council of 15 and 16 October", confirmed the EU leaders, welcoming Trump's decision "not to impose any export ban on allies" with twelve stars. "Our citizens need and deserve affordable energy", underlined the president of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen. However, the oil market had already anticipated the announcements, with US WTI prices down 5% by mid-day in London.
The release of strategic reserves will take place under the control of the International Energy Agency and, for EU countries, will be coordinated by the European Commission. According to the IEA, around 20% of the total available global supplies have been released so far, while 80% still remains available. Around 400 million barrels have been released onto the market, of which two thirds have already been released and have reached the markets while a third has yet to arrive.
Europe has placed a substantial part of its stocks on the market and remains among the regions most exposed to the diesel crisis, due to the strong dependence on imports and the fact that Russia and the Middle East, now the theater of conflicts, are among the traditional sources of EU imports.
