The G7 has agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil over four months. This eases fears of a US ban on diesel exports, which could have caused a serious supply crisis in Europe. After an emergency meeting on Friday, 2 October, French President Emmanuel Macron said there would be no export ban or limits between G7 members. He said Donald Trump had been very clear on this.
Trump welcomed the deal on his Truth Social network. He said Europe had agreed to release a large amount of its stored diesel. Washington had given Europe a choice in recent days: release the fuel or face an embargo. The EU had warned that a ban would hurt trust in the US as a reliable partner. The release will be coordinated by the International Energy Agency.
This follows a first plan announced in March, when IEA members promised 400 million barrels to the market. Now Washington says Europe has not released all the volumes it promised. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said America had done its part and urged Europe to move faster. Germany, the biggest EU contributor, gave less than a quarter of what it mentioned in March, and France used almost nothing.
Prices are still at record highs. US diesel reached 6.53 dollars a gallon, putting Trump under pressure before the 3 November midterm elections. In Europe, diesel averaged 2.24 euros a litre in recent days. Many Gulf refineries are damaged and flows from the region are down 75 percent since late February. Russia has exported no diesel since July, and China is said to have stopped exports for October. Half of Europe’s diesel is imported, mostly from the US.
Reference
de Vergès, M. (2026, October 2). Sous pression de Donald Trump, le G7 annonce un déblocage de 100 millions de barils de pétrole. Le Monde. https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2026/10/02/sous-pression-de-donald-trump-le-g7-annonce-un-deblocage-de-100-millions-de-barils-de-petrole_6787218_3234.html