White House urges EU to draw down diesel inventories, sources say
USO•The White House has urged the EU to draw down emergency diesel inventories to lower global prices, while weighing other measures to ease US fuel costs. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said the bloc had not decided whether to urge member states to release more stocks.
1. US urges European releases
The White House has urged the European Union to draw down emergency diesel inventories to lower global prices, according to two sources familiar with the effort. US officials are particularly frustrated with France and Germany, which they believe have fallen short of commitments to release emergency oil and petroleum reserves.
2. Commitments and options
In March, the United States agreed to loan 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a wider deal with about 30 International Energy Agency countries to release 400 million barrels from reserves. EU countries agreed to contribute 20% of the release. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said several European member countries had released only a fraction of the crude oil and petroleum products they pledged, while the US and Japan were delivering on their commitments.
3. EU weighs next steps
Jorgensen said the EU had discussed with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol whether to release more emergency oil stocks, but had not decided whether to urge member states to do so. He said the bloc had to balance easing price spikes against preserving stocks for potentially worse supply disruptions. The US administration is also considering restricting diesel exports and working with refiners to increase domestic supplies; no final decisions have been made.
