G7 agrees on release of diesel, oil stocks after US pressure

Business Recorder reported that the G7 bloc agreed on Friday to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude from emergency stockpiles. The move was welcomed by US President Donald Trump, who wants to ease fuel costs that have risen because of the Iran war. According to the group's joint statement, the release will start immediately and run for four months, with a front-loaded share of diesel delivered within 20 days.

The move follows an earlier emergency release prompted by the conflict, the largest of its kind on record, which the International Energy Agency coordinated in March. That operation drew on 400 million barrels, and its executive director Fatih Birol said this week that about two-thirds had been released. The G7 will meet through the agency in the days ahead to weigh more diesel releases if needed, and members pledged not to restrict energy exports among themselves.

Reuters said on Thursday, citing three individuals familiar with the matter, that Washington had warned Berlin and Paris to cut their emergency diesel holdings or risk a possible US export ban. Trump later posted on Truth Social that European governments had agreed to free up a sizeable volume of their well-stocked diesel. Diesel futures reacted, with US contracts down more than 4 per cent to USD4.4491 a gallon and European benchmarks falling by more than USD90 a metric ton, according to LSEG data.