The Group of Seven leading industrial nations, or G7, reached a historic agreement to release 100 million barrels of oil reserves onto the market immediately, in order to ease the crisis of continuously surging diesel fuel prices, amid heavy pressure from the United States government under the leadership of President Donald Trump, who called on European nations to speed up the use of their reserve stocks. A joint statement by G7 leaders said the reserve release process would begin immediately and gradually flow onto the market continuously over a period of four months, focusing on releasing diesel in a significant proportion from the first 20 days, through coordination with the International Energy Agency, or IEA, and G7 leaders will meet under the IEA's operational framework in the coming days to consider the possibility of releasing additional diesel as necessary. Diesel prices in the United States surged to a record high in September and remained elevated at an average of 6.37 US dollars per gallon on Friday. G7 members comprise France, which currently holds the group's presidency, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the European Union, or EU, joining the meeting as well. At this meeting, G7 leaders also agreed to refrain from enforcing restrictions on energy and energy product exports among member states, while calling on all producer groups to refrain from imposing export bans, which could further intensify tensions in the market. Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that US allies in Europe should speed up delivery of energy under existing commitments and provide additional supply immediately to ease the ongoing bottleneck problem. Meanwhile, Maroš Šefčovič, the European Union's trade chief, disclosed that he had discussed diesel supply and surging prices with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during the G20 trade ministers' meeting in Milwaukee, stating that the US move to impose restrictions on diesel exports was unexpected and would have a negative impact on Europe's economic outlook. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that the United States and Japan were complying with their obligations, but that many European member states had released only a fraction of the crude oil and petroleum products they had pledged. The stance came after the US Department of Energy announced the release of up to 40 million barrels of crude oil, in line with a commitment the United States made back in March.
G7 releasing 100 million barrels of reserves, focused on diesel, will boost distillate/heating oil supply and pressure prices lower.
