By John Ainger | Updated on Oct 07, 2026 at 04:01 PM
European Union countries are in broad agreement that a Group of Seven deal announced last week for an emergency release of as much as 100 million barrels of diesel and crude stocks will in fact just enact previous commitments rather than requiring additional volumes.
At a meeting of EU member state officials Wednesday morning, there was broad agreement that any further release of oil stockpiles should stay within the amounts agreed back in March, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. Several countries would like to see an impact assessment carried out by the International Energy Agency, the document shows.
Last week’s emergency deal, struck by the G7 and announced by French President Emmanuel Macron, came after the Trump administration threatened European countries with a diesel export ban if they didn’t do more to quell record prices for the fuel. Oil and diesel futures fell after that announcement. EU countries so far only released around half of the oil volumes they committed in March, according to the memo.
Front-loading diesel releases — a key part of the last week’s pact — would be possible but in low volumes, and no EU nation explicitly committed to doing so within a 20-day window, according to the memo. France and Italy might consider releasing some extra diesel beyond their March commitments, but no decision has yet been made.
Read more: G7 to Release Up to 100 Million Barrels of Diesel, Crude
Spokespeople for both countries in Brussels did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the European Commission didn’t either.
IEA member countries “expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases announced” in March, and “supported the prioritization of the release of diesel stocks, to the extent possible,” according to a statement following an impromptu meeting of the governing board Wednesday afternoon. They agreed to review the situation at a regular session next week.
Member countries still have oil stocks equivalent to around 1.1 billion barrels, including over 200 million barrels of diesel, the statement said.
Diesel prices have soared amid the war in Iran and attacks on Russian refineries, putting pressure on Trump to bring down fuel costs, especially for farmers , ahead of US midterm elections. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, has previously said that there’s currently no risk to supplies, though has acknowledged a price crisis.
EU nations were meeting again at 4 p.m. Wednesday via a meeting of the bloc’s Energy Union Task Force.