- G7 countries will release 100 million barrels of oil and refined products over four months, with diesel front-loaded into the first 20 days.
- The agreement includes a commitment to avoid energy export restrictions between G7 members, reducing the immediate risk of a US diesel export ban.
- The release may relieve prices, but it cannot quickly replace lost refining output from the Gulf and Russia or eliminate the UK’s diesel import exposure.
G7 countries have agreed an emergency release of 100 million barrels of oil and refined products as governments attempt to contain a diesel supply crisis that has pushed UK pump prices above £2 a litre.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) will coordinate the release over four months, including a “front-loaded substantial diesel release” during the first 20 days. G7 governments also agreed to coordinate refinery maintenance, maximise utilisation where possible and discuss further diesel releases if market conditions require them.
The agreement represents a significant escalation from the European consultations reported earlier on Friday. France had proposed combining a 50 million barrel European diesel release with 50 million barrels of crude from IEA members, following pressure from Washington and threats of a possible US diesel export ban.
Crucially for the UK, the final G7 statement commits members to “refrain from export restrictions” on energy products. US President Donald Trump subsequently said Europe had agreed to release a “massive amount” of diesel immediately.
European diesel futures fell by more than $100/tonne as the release discussions developed, while US diesel futures declined by more than 4%, according to Reuters. The initial European proposal would have represented about 17% of EU emergency diesel and gasoil stocks, but the precise composition and national contributions to the final G7 package have not yet been disclosed.
UK vulnerability exposed
Average UK diesel prices reached 200.01p a litre on Friday, according to RAC figures. That takes the cost of filling a typical 55 litre family car to approximately £110. Transport minister Keir Mather insisted UK supplies remained “robust” and “resilient”, distinguishing record prices from a physical shortage.
Nevertheless, the crisis has exposed a structural imbalance in the British refining system. UK refineries met only 54.9% of domestic road diesel demand in 2024. The US supplied 35.5% of UK diesel imports, while the Netherlands and Belgium together provided a further 37%, according to the government’s latest security of supply assessment.
The UK held 11.2 million tonnes of oil and product stocks at the end of 2025, exceeding its IEA obligation to maintain stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports. Releasing those stocks can smooth a disruption, but drawing them down reduces protection against a longer crisis and creates a future replenishment bill.
The immediate shortage is concentrated in refined products rather than crude alone. The IEA estimates that combined diesel and gasoil exports from the Gulf and Russia were 1.6 million barrels a day lower in August than in February. Those regions had previously accounted for almost 45% of seaborne diesel trade.
Adding crude inventories does not automatically create diesel when refineries are already operating hard, configured for different crude grades or affected by maintenance and security constraints. This makes the G7’s decision to coordinate refinery schedules as important as the headline stock release.
For the UK, the intervention should reduce the near-term risk of an acute price spike and avert the still more damaging prospect of a unilateral US export restriction. It does not remove the strategic problem: Britain consumes substantially more diesel than it can refine domestically.
The longer-term response is likely to combine more diverse import arrangements with faster electrification of freight, vans and industrial equipment. Strategic stocks can buy governments time; they cannot substitute indefinitely for refining capacity or reduce the economy’s underlying exposure to international trade.
