IEA board to set terms of G7 diesel and oil reserve release on October 14-15
France's proposal for a 50 million barrel release of crude and diesel reserves gets a decision date after weeks of IEA reluctance.
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Chart: USO, a fund that tracks crude, one-minute prices, three sessions
The International Energy Agency will decide the details of a Group of Seven release of diesel and oil reserves at its board meeting on October 14 and 15.
The plan traces back to a French proposal made on October 2 for a 50 million barrel release split evenly between crude and diesel.
IEA chief Fatih Birol had spent weeks playing down the urgency of any stock release, a stance he repeated as recently as October 2.
The board meeting now gives that proposal a firm decision point. Its timing lines up with the European Union's own Oil Coordination Group session, set for October 15, pointing to a coordinated move rather than a step taken by the United States alone. Europe depends heavily on American diesel imports, and refined product markets have been tight, so a confirmed release would add supply in a way that presses on diesel cracks specifically rather than on crude prices broadly. Whether that happens still depends on whether IEA members agree to commit actual barrels at the meeting, rather than repeating the non-committal tone they struck in late September.