G7 Agrees to Release 100 Million Barrels of Fuel Reserves After Trump Drops Diesel Export Ban Threat

Since diesel hit a U.S. record of $6.52 a gallon in late September and French diesel shortages collided with Le Pen's rising poll numbers, the pressure campaign over global fuel prices has produced an actual deal. G7 leaders agreed Friday, Oct. 2, to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from strategic reserves over the next four months, with a heavily frontloaded diesel release in the first 20 days, according to a joint statement from French President Emmanuel Macron's office carried by The New Indian Express.

The release will be coordinated by the International Energy Agency. IEA chief Fatih Birol said Friday that oil prices had already begun falling following the announcement, as reported by Breitbart.

The Threat That Forced the Deal

The agreement came after President Donald Trump spent days threatening to ban all U.S. diesel exports unless European nations released more of their own reserves. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent escalated that pressure Thursday, Oct. 1, posting that "American farmers, truckers, and businesses should not be left carrying the burden of a global diesel shortage" and demanding Europe "accelerate delivery on their existing commitments," according to The New Indian Express.

Trump confirmed the outcome on Truth Social: "Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately."

Macron pushed back on the idea that Europe caved to threats. "The tone of our discussion was not one of threats; it was constructive," he said, according to Breitbart. Trump's own framing and Al Jazeera's headline both describe the G7 as having "bowed to US pressure," while Macron denies that characterization outright. Neither side's version is independently verifiable from the public record, so both are presented here as competing accounts rather than settled fact.

The G7's joint statement also locked in something notable: all seven members agreed to "refrain from export restrictions on energy and energy products between G7 countries," according to The New Indian Express. That's the opposite of what Trump had been threatening days earlier, and it effectively takes a U.S. diesel export ban off the table for the foreseeable future.

Why the Export Ban Idea Died

Trump told reporters at the UN General Assembly in late September that he wanted aides to look at keeping more diesel at home: "I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel," he said, according to Fox News. Bessent said at the time the administration was evaluating whether a ban was "feasible in terms of the overall refining capacity."

But Energy Secretary Chris Wright publicly undercut the idea, warning that U.S. refineries produce diesel alongside gasoline and jet fuel from the same barrel of crude. "If you can't export the diesel that comes out of our refineries when you run out of places to store it, and you have to reduce U.S. refining, which would put upward pressure on gasoline prices and jet fuel prices," Wright said.

RSM US chief economist Joe Brusuelas made the same case to Fox News, warning that a ban could offer short-term relief before raising transportation costs and grocery prices nationwide, since diesel powers the trucks, trains and farm equipment that move nearly everything Americans buy. That's the strongest argument against the ban Trump floated: it treats diesel and gasoline production as a package deal, where restricting exports of one fuel risks starving supply of the other.

A White House official told Fox News Digital the administration is "no longer considering an export ban," framing it as Trump choosing "the decision that is best for the American people."

The Numbers Behind the Pain

U.S. diesel prices are up 72% year-over-year, according to AAA data cited by the Epoch Times, even after easing slightly from the late-September record. In the UK, diesel hit £2 a litre for the first time ever, according to the BBC, with one Buckinghamshire worker telling the broadcaster he's now spending an extra £500 a month just on fuel. A UK charity told the BBC it may have to cut back aid shipments because of delivery costs.

The scale problem is real. Global diesel consumption runs between 28 million and 30 million barrels a day, the Epoch Times noted, meaning a one-time 100-million-barrel release is a short-term patch, not a fix. This is the second IEA-coordinated release this year; the group already moved roughly 400 million barrels in the spring.

Wright also held talks with UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh on tapping Britain's own reserves, according to The New Indian Express. The war in Iran is now in its eighth month, and while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is reportedly returning toward pre-war levels, the G7 statement itself says leaders will "monitor developments closely and stand ready to adjust measures as needed" — leaving open whether 100 million barrels is enough if the conflict drags on.