White House says EU states are short on promised oil reserve releases
The accusation follows a US push last week for the EU to draw down emergency diesel stocks to ease global prices
Published
The Trump administration says several EU member countries have not released as much oil and refined products from their reserves as they had promised.
The claim comes days after the White House pressed the EU to draw down emergency diesel inventories as a way to cool global prices, an alternative to imposing new US export limits on diesel.
Speaking at a meeting of EU energy ministers in Dublin, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the agency has released 400 million barrels of crude oil from strategic reserves since March, and that a third of that volume has yet to reach markets, according to Euronews. Birol said the releases so far equal 20% of overall reserve stocks, with 80% still held back, and that further releases could happen if member countries agree they are needed. He added that additional releases are not the IEA's top priority at the moment.
The pressure on the EU also comes as US refiners push back against any diesel export ban. In a September 23 letter, the Business Roundtable, the American Petroleum Institute and more than two dozen other US trade groups warned President Trump that such a ban could backfire, arguing refiners might have to cut production if they lost the ability to export surplus diesel.
EU officials have separately said supply is stable and refineries are running near maximum capacity, a position that sits awkwardly with Washington's complaint. Taken together, the accusation looks less like evidence of a real shortfall and more like a pressure tactic layered on top of last week's request. With Ireland also playing down the odds of a US export ban, the diesel market is left where it was: both sides talking tough, with no confirmed change in inventories or prices.