Washington: G7 nations have agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of emergency crude oil and diesel reserves into the global market, following a week of mounting pressure from the Trump administration to bring down soaring fuel prices. The G7 member countries — the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, along with EU representation — said the release would begin immediately and continue over four months, with a “frontloaded substantial” diesel release within the first 20 days, coordinated through the International Energy Agency (IEA). Participating countries also committed to not restricting future oil exports.
The decision followed sustained pressure from Washington on Europe to unlock its emergency diesel reserves, with the US warning it would impose a complete ban on diesel exports to Europe if the bloc failed to comply. European nations remain heavily dependent on American diesel supplies, and officials assessed that a halt in exports could inflict serious economic damage on the EU, leaving it with little choice but to accede to the demand.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the agreement on Friday. US President Donald Trump welcomed the move on social media, saying Europe had “agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil” and that the process would begin immediately. The agreement comes as Trump has pushed to bring down high diesel prices ahead of the November US midterm elections.
This is not the first time such reserves have been tapped. The IEA had coordinated a record release of 400 million barrels of oil and fuel products in March this year after the Iran war intensified, marking the largest emergency release of its kind in history. G7 officials said roughly two-thirds of that March commitment has already been fulfilled by member countries, with the remaining third still pending. The US separately approved an additional 40 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve this week, completing its share of the March agreement. Some ambiguity remains over whether the newly announced 100-million-barrel release builds on the outstanding portion of the March commitment or represents a separate, additional pledge.
Under the new plan, G7 members and partner countries will draw crude oil and diesel from their respective emergency reserves and release them into the supply chain in phases, coordinated through the IEA. Economic analysts expect the move to ease global petrol and diesel prices, offering relief to consumers and industry, amid ongoing fuel supply disruptions linked to Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and the broader impact of the Iran conflict in the Middle East.