Europe agrees to release diesel stocks, Trump says
USO•Trump said European countries agreed to release diesel stocks. EU governments discussed France’s proposal for 50 million barrels of diesel and a matching 50 million barrels of crude from IEA members, though it was unclear whether G7 countries had agreed to the proposed volumes.
1. Release proposal discussed
Trump said Europe had agreed to release diesel stocks and that the process would begin immediately. EU governments had discussed a French proposal for European countries to release 50 million barrels of diesel, with part of the volume released over 20 days, and for IEA members to release 50 million barrels of crude oil.
2. Export ban concern
EU countries also discussed making any diesel stock release conditional on a U.S. commitment not to impose a unilateral diesel export ban. Trump has considered such a ban as a way to lower domestic fuel prices, and the U.S. had demanded that large European countries release 100 million barrels of diesel within 20 days, sources said.
3. Market and reserve figures
U.S. diesel futures fell more than 4% to $4.4491 a gallon, while European diesel futures dropped by more than $100 per metric ton. The proposed 50-million-barrel diesel release equals about 17% of the EU’s emergency diesel and gasoil stocks and around 3% of the bloc’s annual consumption. The IEA said members had released about two-thirds of a coordinated 400-million-barrel reserve release agreed in March.
