Paris (France) (AFP) - The leaders of the Group of Seven agreed on Friday to pump up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their reserves into the markets during the next four months, in a move praised by US President Donald Trump, who announced that he would not impose a ban on diesel exports after he had threatened it.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:18 Last updated: 03/10/2026 - 03:28

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement following talks he chaired to coordinate action on fuel prices, that the group’s countries agreed to “a coordinated offering, through the International Energy Agency, of a total of 100 million barrels, to be implemented immediately and over a period of four months.”

According to a statement by the G7 countries, “large” quantities of diesel will be put on the market during the next twenty days, without ruling out “discussing the possibility” of releasing additional stocks.

Macron stated that an agreement had been concluded not to impose any restrictions or bans on exports between the G7 countries, noting that his American counterpart, Donald Trump, was also “very clear on this point.”

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States will not impose a ban on diesel exports, praising the decision of European countries to pump quantities of their reserves.

In response to an Agence France-Presse reporter’s question about whether the US export ban had been ruled out, Trump replied, “In fact, it was not actually on the table. But what Europe did was great.”

Indeed, US oil prices fell by about five percent, while Brent crude, the global standard, fell below $100 per barrel.

to threaten

In an effort to alleviate pressure on the global market, the US government urged Europe to withdraw quantities of its strategic reserves of diesel to put it on the market, even hinting at banning its exports of this material to the European Union in the event of refusal.

But the European Commission warned that such a ban “would undermine our confidence in the partnership with the United States.”

Stopping American supplies represents a disastrous measure for the European Union, as 50% of diesel imports for the twenty-seven countries in the bloc come from the United States.

On Thursday and Friday night, Macron made a call to Trump in which he stressed that the Group of Seven, which includes Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and Britain, “has a common interest in moving in a coordinated manner and without restrictions on exports,” according to the Elysee Palace.

In turn, the German government called for coordinated solutions with the aim of not causing further disruption in the markets.

Midterm elections

Last March, member states of the International Energy Agency, including European Union countries, pledged to gradually release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, but these quantities have not yet been put on the market.

The Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities and Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz have a significant impact on global diesel production, even though refineries in other regions of the world are working at full capacity to convert crude oil into fuel.

Inflation in the euro zone rose in September to a new record level in three years of 3.8%, as a result of the sharp rise in energy prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.

Before the G7 leaders' consensus, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent considered that "farmers, truck drivers, and American companies should not bear the burdens of a global diesel shortage alone," at a time when the United States is preparing for the midterm elections in early November.

© 2026 AFP

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