G7 agrees major release of oil stocks following pressure from the US

BRUSSELS — The G7 group of rich countries has agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil over the next four months, following intense pressure from the Trump administration for Europe to tap its stockpiles of diesel.

In a joint statement following an emergency meeting on Friday, the G7 leaders said the release of 100 million barrels of oil would “begin immediately” and would start with release of diesel stocks.

The announcement comes after POLITICO reported earlier this week that the U.S. administration had requested European countries to release reserves of diesel into the market to cushion a sharp rise in prices of the fuel, which was becoming a political problem for the Republicans ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

Trump had also threatened  to ban exports of diesel altogether — a major worry for European countries because U.S. diesel accounts for more than half of the continent’s imports of the fuel.

But that threat is now off the table, G7 leaders said Friday. Under the agreement there would be “no restrictions or bans on exports among G7 countries,” the statement read.

French President Emmanuel Macron denied European leaders had been strong-armed into making the concession with the threat of a diesel export, telling press on Friday: “The tone of our discussion was not one of threats; it was constructive.”

He added that Trump had been “very clear” that there would be no export ban.

The leaders’ statement did not specify that the releases would come from European reserves, but U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that European countries had agreed to make a major contribution.

“Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The process will begin immediately.”

The announcement comes after several rounds of emergency talks between European governments over how to respond to the U.S. pressure, with France proposing a release of 100 million barrels of European oil and diesel earlier Friday.

The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.

While G7 countries participated in a release of 400 million barrels of oil earlier this year led by the International Energy Agency, many of the barrels released never made it to market because they were unable to compete with cheaper U.S. crude that has recently flooded the bloc, according to a trader and an EU diplomat. But they were, officially, available, the people said. 

Two other diplomats suggested Friday that the announcement was simply a reaffirmation of that March commitment.