G7 to release 100M barrels of fuel amid high prices

Major economies will release fuel, including diesel, from their stockpiles as prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks.

The Group of Seven (G7), which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., said in a statement Friday that it would “begin immediately” releasing 100 million barrels of fuel over the next four months.

This is expected to include a “frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days by G7 members and partners” the group said.

In addition, the countries said they will “coordinate maintenance schedules” of their refineries that process oil into fuels including gasoline and diesel, to “prevent simultaneous capacity shutdowns and temporarily increase utilization rates where feasible.”

“We also encourage engagement with countries holding significant refining capacities to boost global production of refined products, particularly diesel, in light of ongoing market pressures in this segment,” the countries said.

Their statement did not specify which countries the releases would come form.

However, the news comes after significant U.S. pressure on the issue. President Trump on Friday touted the announcement, saying in a post on Truth Social “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.”

A White House official told The Hill that Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron late Thursday and with leaders of the G7 Friday morning to negotiate the release.

Trump administration officials had called on Europe to release diesel stocks.

Reuters reported this week that the administration had threatened to stop exporting diesel to France and Germany if they did not release fuel from their stocks.

Macron said in a post on X that as part of the new agreement, the countries agreed to “take no measures to restrict the exchange of energy and petroleum products between partner countries.”

The announcement comes as high diesel prices have hurt U.S. farmers in particular and have shaken up U.S. politics as the midterm elections approach. Some rural-area Republicans have called for a ban on U.S. diesel exports across the board.

As of Friday, diesel was averaging $6.37 per gallon, according to AAA , a very high price for this fuel.

Global conflicts, including the U.S.-Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars, are factors in the high prices.

At the start of the conflict in Iran earlier this year, a large coalition of countries agreed to release a total of 400 million barrels of oil to offset the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping waterway off Iran’s coast.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a press release earlier this week that the U.S. and Japan were “delivering on their commitments” from March while “several European member countries have released only a fraction of the crude oil and petroleum products they pledged.”

Two diplomats suggested to Politico that Friday’s announcement may just be a reiteration of the previous pledge.

The 100 million barrels is about on par with one day’s worth of total global oil consumption .