President Donald Trump said the United States will not restrict diesel exports after G7 governments agreed to begin an immediate, coordinated release of 100 million barrels of diesel, crude oil and other petroleum products from emergency reserves.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

President Donald Trump abandoned plans for a possible U.S. diesel export ban Friday after Group of Seven nations agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel, crude oil and other petroleum products from emergency inventories in an effort to ease record fuel prices and stabilize global energy markets.

“We’re not going to be doing the export ban,” Trump said Friday, hours after G7 leaders announced the coordinated action. Reuters reported that Trump had repeatedly considered restricting American diesel exports during the previous two weeks as his administration pressed European governments to contribute more fuel from their strategic reserves.

Trump expanded on the decision before departing the White House, saying Europe’s decision to release additional fuel eliminated the immediate need for Washington to restrict shipments abroad.

“Europe has a lot of diesel, and they’re going to be making a major world contribution, and so are we. And we’re not going to be doing the export ban. We’re going to be doing what we’re supposed to do,” Trump said.

The reversal followed an intensive U.S. pressure campaign aimed particularly at France and Germany. The administration had warned the two governments that failure to draw down emergency diesel stocks could prompt Washington to restrict American exports, a step that could have sharply reduced European supplies at a time when the continent has become increasingly dependent on U.S. refined fuel.

Trump also announced the European commitment on Truth Social, saying Europe had agreed to release a “massive amount” of its heavily stocked diesel supplies and that the process would begin immediately. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump before convening Friday’s virtual meeting of G7 leaders, according to French and U.S. officials.

The resulting agreement calls for the 100 million-barrel release to begin immediately and continue over four months. G7 members and partner countries are expected to provide a “frontloaded substantial diesel release” during the first 20 days, although officials did not specify exactly how much diesel, crude oil or other petroleum products each country will contribute.

“Taking into account commitments that have already been fulfilled, we will implement our commitments with a coordinated release through the IEA of 100 million barrels,” the G7 said in its joint statement.

The International Energy Agency will oversee the coordinated action, monitor its effect on energy markets and report back within 20 days. The G7 also said members would meet through the IEA to determine whether additional diesel releases are necessary and to develop recommendations for eventually replenishing emergency stocks.

The agreement also includes a commitment by G7 nations to refrain from imposing export restrictions on energy and energy products traded among member countries. Leaders urged other oil and fuel producers to avoid similar bans that could further tighten global supplies.

That provision directly addresses one of the most controversial options the Trump administration had been considering.

The United States is the world’s largest diesel exporter, and Europe has increased purchases of American diesel during 2026 as the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran disrupted supplies from Persian Gulf producers. Europe had already lost access to much of the Russian fuel it once purchased following sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Restricting U.S. shipments could have temporarily increased domestic diesel availability, but refiners and energy officials warned that the policy could ultimately disrupt the entire American refining system.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month that a blanket diesel export ban “definitely doesn’t work.”

Wright explained that refineries simultaneously produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and other petroleum products from crude oil. If diesel exports were prohibited and domestic storage filled, refiners could be forced to reduce total refinery operations rather than simply stop producing diesel. That could decrease supplies of gasoline and jet fuel and push their prices higher as well.

The G7’s commitment appears to have removed that immediate risk.

Analysts at Energy Aspects characterized the export pledge as a political commitment rather than a legally binding prohibition, saying the large reserve-release announcement appeared designed in part to convince Trump not to restrict U.S. exports. Reuters reported that the group’s pledge does not itself prevent a future government from changing policy if market conditions deteriorate.

The final G7 agreement developed from a proposal discussed by European governments Friday under which European countries would release approximately 50 million barrels of diesel while IEA members would contribute another 50 million barrels of crude oil. The published G7 statement ultimately did not adopt that precise breakdown, leaving the composition of the 100 million barrels unspecified.

A 50 million-barrel European diesel release would represent approximately 17% of the European Union’s emergency diesel and gasoil inventories and roughly 3% of annual EU consumption, according to Eurostat data cited by Reuters.

The latest intervention follows a much larger emergency response earlier this year.

IEA countries agreed in March to release approximately 400 million barrels of oil and petroleum products after the Iran war disrupted global supply routes. The Associated Press has described that commitment as 426 million barrels when including the full slate of member pledges. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said this week that roughly two-thirds of the earlier commitment had already been delivered.

The G7 said Friday’s 100 million-barrel agreement takes previous commitments into account, leaving some uncertainty about how much represents entirely new supply and how much fulfills amounts previously promised under the March action.

Global fuel markets have tightened sharply during the Iran conflict.

Damage to refineries and disruptions to Persian Gulf export routes have reduced supplies of refined petroleum products, while Russia has extended restrictions on diesel exports after Ukrainian attacks damaged Russian refining infrastructure. Chinese refiners have also reduced fuel exports to preserve domestic inventories.

Those disruptions have been particularly severe for diesel, which powers much of the global trucking, agricultural, construction and industrial economy.

The U.S. national average price for diesel reached a record $6.52 per gallon on Sept. 22 before easing to approximately $6.37 on Friday, according to AAA data cited by The Associated Press.

Unlike gasoline price increases, high diesel costs can spread rapidly throughout the economy because commercial trucks move most consumer goods while farms, construction companies and industrial businesses rely heavily on diesel-powered machinery.

Higher transportation and operating costs can eventually be passed to consumers through more expensive food, manufactured products and other goods.

That economic pressure had increased calls within the United States for immediate government action. Some Republican lawmakers urged Trump to restrict diesel exports in hopes of keeping more fuel within the domestic market, while administration officials pursued larger reserve releases from allies instead.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said before Friday’s agreement that the United States had already fulfilled its share of the March IEA commitment by releasing 172 million barrels from American reserves and urged European allies to follow through on their own commitments.

“America is doing its part,” Bessent said. “We look to our allies to match their commitments with action.”

The administration’s pressure intensified Thursday when U.S. officials warned France and Germany that an American diesel export restriction remained an option if Europe did not act. One source told Reuters that Washington had sought an EU release of as much as 120 million barrels of diesel over six months.

Macron subsequently convened Friday’s G7 session.

Following the meeting, the G7 said governments would not rely solely on emergency stockpiles. Members also agreed to coordinate refinery maintenance schedules to avoid simultaneous shutdowns, temporarily increase refinery utilization where possible and encourage other countries with significant refining capacity to raise production, particularly of diesel.

“This common decision and this unity should bring down prices,” Macron said after the meeting. “The volumes we’re releasing should also add liquidity to the market and bring down prices.”

Energy markets moved lower as reports of the agreement emerged.

U.S. diesel futures fell 3.25% Friday to approximately $4.49 per gallon, while benchmark European diesel futures dropped roughly $83 per metric ton, or 5.75%, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Crude oil prices also declined after the announcement, although analysts said uncertainty over how much of the 100 million-barrel commitment represents new supply limited the market reaction.

The emergency release carries risks of its own.

Strategic petroleum and fuel reserves are intended to protect countries against severe supply interruptions. Drawing down those stocks can relieve prices and shortages in the short term but leaves governments with less protection if wars, refinery outages or shipping disruptions worsen before inventories are rebuilt.

Jim Krane, an energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, cautioned that governments eventually will need to replace what they release.

“Draining stocks will reduce retail fuel prices for a while, at the cost of leaving Europe with less emergency cover,” Krane said. “At some point in the future Europe and the rest of the G7 will have to refill their strategic reserves. Normally they try to do this when prices are low. Nobody knows when that will happen. It’s a risk.”

For now, the G7 has chosen coordinated reserve releases over national export restrictions.

The group said it remains prepared to release additional diesel if market conditions require it, while the IEA will assess whether the current action is increasing supply and reducing price pressure.

The agreement gave Trump the international action his administration had been seeking and allowed him to withdraw a diesel export ban that U.S. energy officials warned could disrupt refinery production and raise prices for other fuels.

The immediate test will come during the next 20 days, when G7 nations and their partners are expected to place a significant amount of emergency diesel into the market and determine whether the additional supply is enough to meaningfully reduce fuel costs.

Original article