Von der Leyen opens EU refinery talks and extends methane rule for exporters
The one-year extension for exporters follows weeks of friction over diesel reserve releases and a widening gap in global fuel supply.
Published
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced strategic talks on European refineries aimed at lowering costs and securing supplies. She also confirmed a one-year extension to methane regulation for exporters.
Von der Leyen said state aid for energy bills should be targeted at people who need it most, and that the EU needs to fix the structural problems that leave it exposed to unstable foreign fossil fuel markets.
The announcement comes as the EU's energy taskforce weighs releasing diesel stockpiles, after Washington asked European countries to release 120 million barrels over six months, according to Reuters. Separately, global LNG spot prices have climbed to their highest level since late 2022 after Qatar extended a supply freeze, and transit through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen 80% from its February level, widening a shortfall that has doubled from a year earlier.
The talks extend a track von der Leyen has been building since the methane delay and diesel reserve debates last month, but they add a new element by linking energy affordability directly to household aid rather than industrial supply alone. The methane extension itself marks a shift from Brussels' earlier insistence on keeping the rules unchanged, suggesting it is accommodating pressure from the United States and exporters after weeks of friction over diesel releases and reserve shortfalls. None of this changes the physical diesel or crude balance that has driven recent price moves. Refinery cost talks and subsidy targeting are policy framing, not confirmed barrel flows.