G7 Agrees to Release Up to 100 Million Barrels After Pressure From Washington

The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed on Friday to release up to 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel from emergency stockpiles over four months, a move aimed at cooling fuel prices that have soared since the war with Iran began in late February.

The release will be coordinated through the International Energy Agency, and the group’s statement promised a substantial amount of diesel within the first 20 days, according to Euronews and NBC News. Spread evenly, the total works out to roughly 830,000 barrels a day, Euronews calculated. Leaders also agreed to coordinate refinery maintenance so that plants do not shut down at the same time, to raise refinery output temporarily where possible and not to restrict trade in fuel among partner countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who holds the G7 presidency, hosted the videoconference and said the members had agreed to act together to ease pressure on energy prices. The agreement followed a week of pressure from the Trump administration, which had pressed European allies to tap their diesel reserves and openly weighed a ban on American diesel exports, a step that would have hit Europe hard. An overnight call between Macron and Trump appears to have moved Paris, Euronews reported. Earlier on Friday, the European Commission had pushed back against what it called United States threats.

President Trump wrote on social media that Europe had agreed to release a massive amount of its heavily stocked diesel and that the process would begin immediately. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said American farmers and truckers should not be left to carry the burden of a diesel shortage alone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later welcomed the group’s decision not to impose export bans on allies, NBC reported.

The pressure on prices is severe. Diesel in the United States averaged about $6.37 a gallon, roughly 70 percent higher than in late February, and the international benchmark Brent crude hovered above $100 a barrel on Friday, up more than 60 percent this year, according to NBC.

How much relief consumers will feel is uncertain. Crude pulled from reserves does not turn into diesel until refineries process it, and many refiners in the United States and Europe are already running close to full capacity. Oil analyst Andy Lipow told NBC the release might temporarily lower diesel prices by about 25 cents a gallon but would do little to increase the capacity to make more fuel. Members of the energy agency approved a much larger 400 million barrel release in March, which eased the squeeze only briefly before prices resumed climbing, NBC noted.

Supporters of the administration’s hard line argue that Europe holds large diesel reserves and that American drivers and farmers should not shoulder the shortage while allies sit on stockpiles. European officials counter that threats of export bans damage trust among partners whose economies are deeply linked. With winter, when diesel demand typically rises, only weeks away, the next few months will test whether the coordinated release is enough.