European Union officials have held an emergency call after the Trump administration pressured Europe to release its emergency diesel stocks to help ease soaring diesel prices. The US and Israel’s war on Iran, as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, have triggered a spike in global diesel prices, which is damaging Trump politically at home. US diesel prices have surged, hitting a record of $6.53 per gallon last week.
The average price of diesel in Europe has also hit an all-time high of 2.24 euros per litre ($9.56 per gallon), according to European Commission data. The spike in US diesel prices has prompted the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers to consider restricting US diesel exports ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections. Last week, Trump pressured Ukraine to stop attacking Russian diesel facilities amid the war, which Russia started when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Then, on Thursday this week, the US president told reporters that his administration “may” ask European countries to release diesel stocks, shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Europe to “immediately” tap its reserves. An EU government official told US media outlet Politico that the Trump administration did send a proposal to EU leaders on Thursday asking them to release 120 million barrels of diesel from their national strategic reserves over 180 days. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters after a G-20 trade meeting in the US that he had discussed tight diesel supplies and price spikes with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and expressed Europe’s desire for a coordinated approach to lowering prices.
The demand comes because of soaring diesel prices in the US amid its war on Iran, which has all but halted energy exports from the Gulf. Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war has also disrupted energy supplies. But American refiners are running at record highs,” he added, saying that announcements from Europe about new supplies would also push prices down.
Eamon Drumm, a Paris-based fellow focusing on US-Europe energy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the US administration likely believes that if European countries release stocks, it will ease pressure on global diesel prices and in turn bring prices down in the US ahead of the midterm elections. He added that behind this is a frustration that France and Germany didn’t take more action earlier to release stocks, as well as an inclination to make Europe bear more of the global costs of the war with Iran. EU countries, along with the United Kingdom, hold about 52 million metric tonnes of gas oil and diesel stocks, of which 37.50 million tonnes is reserved for emergencies, according to Eurostat’s June 2026 figures.
EU rules require member states to maintain emergency oil stocks covering at least 90 days of net imports or 61 days of domestic consumption, whichever is greater. Germany holds the largest amount of emergency stocks at 5.6 million tonnes, followed by France, which holds 8.2 million tonnes, according to Eurostat data. The US diesel inventories, on the other hand, have hit a record low of 107.9 million barrels as of September 11, 2026.
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