Staff Report
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
Europe has agreed to release a coordinated 100 million barrels from its diesel stockpiles following days of pressure from President Trump, who had threatened to cut off US diesel exports entirely if Germany and France didn’t act to ease soaring global fuel prices.
Trump announced the breakthrough directly, writing that “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.” The agreement followed an overnight call between Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, which preceded a G7 video conference held Friday morning where the release was finalized.
In a joint statement, G7 members confirmed the coordinated release would begin immediately and run over a four-month period, with officials emphasizing “a front-loaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days” to deliver the fastest possible relief to strained fuel markets.
The deal marks a reversal from the standoff that had been building for days, with Trump walking back his own threat of an export ban once Europe agreed to act. “Well it was never really on the table, but what Europe did was a great thing,” Trump said of the possibility of a US ban, reframing the episode as a diplomatic win rather than acknowledging the pressure campaign that preceded it.
The agreement lands as diesel prices have hit record highs on both sides of the Atlantic, squeezing farmers, schools and businesses that depend on the fuel for transport, agriculture and heating. For the UK and Europe specifically, the release offers a potential reprieve after weeks of talks between Britain, the European Commission and member states over how to respond to the threatened US export ban, talks that had centered on whether to draw down their own emergency reserves even before Friday’s broader G7 agreement was reached.
