Foreign Affairs

Oil Prices Drop After Trump Pressure Pushes Europe Toward Releasing Diesel Reserves

A crude oil pump. (Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

Oil prices fell Friday after a report that European countries were weighing a large release of emergency fuel stocks under pressure from the Trump administration.

France proposed that European Union (EU) countries release 50 million barrels of diesel, with International Energy Agency (IEA) members adding 50 million barrels of crude oil, Reuters reported Friday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the discussions. Brent crude for December delivery fell 2.5 percent to $99.78 a barrel Friday morning, while West Texas Intermediate for November dropped 3.7 percent to $89.42, CNBC reported.

A spokesperson for French Economy Minister Roland Lescure dismissed the proposal as “rumors,” POLITICO reported.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an X post Thursday that European partners should speed up their existing commitments and make more supplies available immediately.

American farmers, truckers and businesses “should not be left carrying the burden of a global diesel shortage,” he wrote.

The Treasury Department and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Diesel averaged $6.37 a gallon nationwide Friday, compared with $6.50 the previous week and $3.70 a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

The Trump administration had told France and Germany to draw down their emergency diesel inventories or face a potential U.S. export ban, according to a Reuters report Thursday.

The U.S. supplied about half of the EU’s diesel imports in August, according to IEA figures cited by CNBC.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, rejected any U.S. ban on diesel exports Friday.

A ban “would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner,” Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said, France 24 reported. She added that the bloc is ready to work with the IEA on a possible release of fuel reserves.

A second spokeswoman, Paula Pinho, said the bloc’s meetings had nothing to do with U.S. threats, Le Monde reported.

Germany has been reluctant to release any barrels, according to POLITICO, which cited people briefed on the talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Trump against an export ban and then convened a video call of Group of Seven leaders Friday, according to Le Monde.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said Tuesday that about a third of the 400 million barrels member countries agreed in March to release has not yet reached the market, according to France 24.