US tells France and Germany to release diesel stocks or risk an export ban, sources say
A person in a European capital said on Thursday, October 1, that the US has asked the EU for 120 million barrels of diesel over six months, after people close to the talks said France and Germany were told to release stocks or face a possible export ban.
Key takeaways
The Trump administration has told France and Germany to release emergency diesel or face a possible ban on US diesel exports, three people close to the discussions said Thursday. They described the aim as easing global fuel prices. No release has been agreed, and no ban has been announced.
A person in a European capital said the US has asked the European Union for 120 million barrels of diesel over the next six months. The request is for the whole bloc, not a quota for France or Germany, and it came with no deadline.
"It is in Europe's best interest to work with the United States as we pursue multiple pathways to boost the supply of refined products and lower costs for consumers," a US official said.
France's energy ministry declined to comment. Germany's economy ministry had not responded by Thursday morning.
The European Commission, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and Britain were on a call about a possible release, an EU official said. No decision had come from that call.
By 9:54 a.m. Eastern time, heating oil futures, the New York Harbor contract used for diesel, were down 1.7%. Brent crude was up 2.9%, at $100.85 a barrel. A fund of oil refiners, CRAK, was down 0.4%. A fund of big US energy companies, XLE, was up 0.7%.
"The blunt tool of banning diesel exports definitely doesn't work," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on September 23.
On Wednesday he told reporters to watch Europe.
"You will hear announcements from our friends in Europe about new diesel supplies that'll come to the market that'll meaningfully push diesel prices down," he said.
Officials have described the stock release Wright circulated as an alternative to a ban. An official said the question put to Europe by Tuesday was whether a release could bring prices down and "help our government not to continue the discussion on the export ban."
Thursday's warning makes that ban the cost of saying no.
The US exported 1.53 million barrels a day of distillate in the week ended September 25, the Energy Information Administration said. Distillate is the category that covers diesel and heating oil.
The European Commission has said the US supplied about half of the EU's diesel imports in August. A ban would stop that flow to European buyers.
Shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have also been disrupted since the US-Iran war began in late February. Kpler, which tracks cargoes, measured refined-product flows through the strait at 677,000 barrels a day over the seven days through September 28, against 3.6 million before the war.
"We've lost some diesel exports from the Middle East, although we're restoring those, and we've lost diesel exports from China," Wright said Wednesday.
The average US diesel price was $6.38 a gallon in the week ended September 28, the Energy Information Administration said. A week earlier it was $6.53, the highest weekly average in the agency's records.
The White House is under pressure to bring that price down ahead of November's midterm elections.
Trump said Wednesday, from the Oval Office, that he was still thinking about a ban.
"It just seems that it would have a negative impact on gasoline, so that would go up a little bit, and diesel would come down a little bit," he said.
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the US refiners' trade group, said on September 25 that a ban would leave diesel the home market will not use. The group said that once tanks and pipelines fill, refiners would have to cut production.
Goldman Sachs said in a September 26 note that diesel, gasoline and jet fuel are largely produced together. Once storage is full, the bank estimated, each week of a ban would likely put 30 cents a gallon of upward pressure on US retail gasoline.
The same note estimated that each week would raise European wholesale diesel prices by $3 a barrel, just under 2%. A release from Europe's reserves might offset about half of that increase.
Europe's answer
On September 8 the Commission's oil coordination group said the EU had no immediate supply problem and that commercial and emergency stocks were sufficient. It warned that the conflict, and winter demand, could still tighten the market.
"We believe this is a bad idea," Olof Gill, the Commission's spokesman, said on September 24. "We believe it potentially can have a negative impact on both sides."
Macron said that day he had warned Trump the decision "would be a bad one" for the US economy as well as the rest of the world. A French presidential official said the two had not discussed this stock request at the UN General Assembly last week, and that Macron would convene a video conference of G7 leaders on fuel prices and a possible release through the International Energy Agency. No date was set.
US officials have said they believe France and Germany have not fully followed through on earlier commitments to release emergency oil stocks. The two countries held about 35% of the EU's emergency gasoil and diesel stocks as of May 2025, the latest Eurostat figures.
The open question is whether Europe announces those supplies before Trump decides.
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Frequently asked questions
Has the US banned diesel exports to Europe?
No ban has been announced, and no stock release has been agreed.
How much diesel did the US ask for?
The US asked the European Union for 120 million barrels of diesel over six months, with no deadline.
Why were France and Germany singled out?
US officials believe the two have not fully followed through on earlier stock releases, and they held about 35% of the EU's emergency gasoil and diesel stocks as of May 2025.
What would a ban do to US gasoline prices?
Goldman Sachs estimated each week of a ban would likely put 30 cents a gallon of upward pressure on US retail gasoline.
