The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies plan to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting immediately with a “frontloaded substantial release” of diesel.
According to G7 countries, the move would begin immediately and would last for four months.
President Donald Trump announced the action ahead of the November 3 midterm elections as his economic approval ratings hit a new low. Surging oil and diesel prices, driven by an eight-month-long war with Iran and trade battles, have heavily impacted Republicans.
In the wake of soaring prices, the national average for a gallon of diesel in the US reached a record $6.52 on September 22 and stood at $6.37 on Friday.
Other factors such as a Russian export ban resulting from Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries and reduced refined products shipments from Persian Gulf producers due to war damage and blocked export routes.
In response to the G7 move, President Trump hailed this decision as he wrote on social media, “”Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.”
Speaking later at the White House, Trump ruled out the export ban option for Europe. Referring to the decision by the G7 to release fuel from reserves, he added that “what Europe did was a great thing.”
“Europe has a lot of diesel and they’re going to be making a major world contribution – and so are we,” he said.
“And we’re not going to be doing the export ban, we’re going to be doing what we’re supposed to do.”
Energy experts cautioned that draining strategic reserves offers a short-term fix at the cost of leaving Europe with less emergency cover, noting the future risks and difficulties of eventually having to refill those reserves when prices are high and ongoing wars target refineries.
