US urges Europe to release more emergency oil reserves as prices surge

The United States has urged European countries to release more emergency oil reserves to curb soaring energy prices, as Washington announced it would put another 40 million barrels onto the market.

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“While the United States and Japan are delivering on their commitments, several European member countries have released only a fraction of the crude oil and petroleum products they pledged,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on September 29. “We urge every member country to fulfil its commitments.”

The appeal comes as the Trump administration considers a 90-day diesel export ban in an effort to contain domestic fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Washington says its latest release from strategic reserves is part of a coordinated effort to stabilise oil markets as disruption in the Middle East sends prices sharply higher.

US diesel has surged to $7 a gallon while Brent crude oil has been trading between $97 and $102 per barrel since late September, an increase of $25 to $30 per barrel compared to pre-war levels.

Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in the Gulf of Aden and attacks on Russian refineries have put further pressure on an already tight oil market.

European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said on September 29 that the EU had spent more than €100 billion extra on energy this year without receiving any additional gas or oil in return.

Europe still has reserves to draw on

The International Energy Agency (IEA) coordinated the release of 400 million barrels of oil in March, with the EU contributing roughly 20 percent, shortly after US and Israel’s attacks on Iran on 28 February.

But IEA executive director Fatih Birol played down the prospect of another coordinated emergency release when he spoke to reporters in Dublin in the margins of an energy ministerial meeting on September 29, shortly before Washington issued its call.

Birol said another release was not currently a priority and that much of the oil already pledged had yet to reach the market.

“About two-thirds [of emergency oil reserves] have been released and hit the markets, and one-third is still to come,” he said.

European countries had made significant efforts, Birol added, but still had stocks of both crude oil and refined products available.

US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, however, suggested Europe could do more, particularly on diesel.

The Trump administration was “discussing a lot of options”, Burgum told reporters in Washington on September 29, adding: “I don’t want to get ahead of anybody.”

But, he stressed, European countries “have a lot of diesel reserves”.

Any new coordinated emergency release would normally be overseen by the IEA, with the European Commission then coordinating the positions of EU member states. The IEA did not respond to a Euronews request for comment by the time of publication.

Europe has built up a substantial emergency oil cushion, although stocks vary considerably between countries.

In May 2025, EU countries collectively held 108.6 million tonnes of emergency oil stocks, including about 43.5 million tonnes of crude, 39 million tonnes of diesel and gasoil, and 10.4 million tonnes of petrol, according to the European Commission.

But the cushion is unevenly distributed. Finland had reserves equivalent to 178 days of net imports in May 2025, compared with 112 days in Greece, 108 in Belgium, 107 in Sweden, 105 in Malta and 104 in Spain.

Ireland held the equivalent of 83 days, Czechia 79 days and Bulgaria 88 days.

The Commission has not yet published comparable figures for 2026.

Between a rock and a hard place

A US diesel export ban would add to the pressure on European consumers and industry, according to Francesco Sassi, assistant professor of political science at the University of Oslo.

“The immediate consequences would be even costlier supply scenarios for European consumers and additional costs for industries and energy operators,” Sassi told Euronews.

Governments would also face higher public spending as they sought to cushion households and businesses from soaring energy prices, he said.

Sassi warned that prolonged supply disruption could also increase pressure on Europe to reconsider Russian energy supplies.

“The EU continues to ignore the severe disruptions to supply the market has been experiencing since the beginning of the war in the Persian Gulf and the blockade of Hormuz,” he said, arguing that Europe remained heavily dependent on supply routes protected by other powers or controlled by global markets.

Ireland’s Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien said on September 29 that a US diesel export ban was “unlikely” because it would damage economies on both sides of the Atlantic.

But he urged Europe to prepare for the possibility.

“We have to be guarded,” O’Brien said. “We can’t be complacent.”