US presses Europe to tap diesel reserves as Politico reports request
Politico reports Washington is asking European governments to release diesel from strategic reserves.
Published
The US is asking Europe to release diesel from its strategic reserves, Politico reports. The outlet did not cite a government official confirming the request.
IEA chief Fatih Birol has said Europe is highly vulnerable on diesel and that the agency is in talks with member governments about further reserve releases if they are needed. Birol has also said Europe is heading into a difficult winter, though those remarks stopped short of announcing any new supply action, reserve release or fresh data.
The request marks a reversal from the standoff earlier described, in which the US was weighing export restrictions that would have pushed Europe toward reserve releases as a defensive move. Washington now soliciting that release directly suggests the diesel plan under consideration in the US leans toward tightening domestic supply rather than the softer, state-level options floated last week.
Birol has confirmed Europe sources half its diesel needs from the US and is already exposed heading into winter. Officials in Washington asking Europe to draw down reserves would shift tightness across the Atlantic rather than resolve it, leaving the global diesel balance strained either way. That is modestly bearish for European diesel cracks and reserve adequacy this winter, and modestly bullish for US diesel prices if it signals the export-restriction option remains live rather than shelved. The underlying supply risk is unchanged even as the policy direction stays unresolved.