Europe will release 42 million barrels of oil reserves over three months, France says

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Half of the volume will be diesel, France's economy minister said, as E.U. energy ministers meet over fuel prices and winter supply

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French Economy Minister Roland Lescure said Thursday that over the coming three months, Europe will put 42 million barrels of its oil reserves on the market to help ease prices, according to Bloomberg. Half of the volume will be diesel, he said.

Lescure made the remarks before E.U. energy ministers gathered in Luxembourg, according to Bloomberg. The ministers are set to discuss energy security before the winter heating season, according to Arab News.

Lescure said France’s previously announced drawdown of 10 million barrels of diesel would arrive on the market within days, according to Bloomberg. He said prices would begin reacting as early as next week. He said the reserves would be sold without markup, lowering prices by 12 to 18 euro cents per liter.

Diesel is "at the heart of our challenges," Lescure said, according to Bloomberg. He said he was hopeful that the present crisis would be settled "slowly, but surely," and that Europe would leave the door open to additional releases from its stockpiles.

The Group of Seven nations agreed on Oct. 2 to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from emergency reserves, with the International Energy Agency overseeing a drawdown spread over four months. The Trump administration had pressed European countries to tap their stockpiles as fuel prices climbed.

The IEA's Governing Board agreed to accelerate the release of remaining volumes under its March 2026 Collective Action on Oct. 15, the agency said. About 330 million barrels had been released at that point, with around 100 million barrels remaining. The board said specific plans were in place for more than 20 million barrels of diesel to be released as soon as possible.

The board also noted the IEA Secretariat's assessments pointing to continued tightness in oil markets, notably for diesel. It encouraged members with oil production and refining capacity to boost supply of crude and refined products, particularly diesel.

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