US Pressures Europe to Tap Emergency Diesel Reserves Amid Soaring Fuel Prices and Straining Relations

European Union officials held an emergency call after the Trump administration pressured Europe to release its emergency diesel stocks to help ease soaring diesel prices. The US and Israel’s war on Iran, as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, have triggered a spike in global diesel prices, which is damaging Trump politically at home. US diesel prices have surged, hitting a record of $6.53 per gallon last week. The average price of diesel in Europe has also hit an all-time high of 2.24 euros per litre ($9.56 per gallon), according to European Commission data. The spike in US diesel prices has prompted the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers to consider restricting US diesel exports ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections.

Last week, Trump pressured Ukraine to stop attacking Russian diesel facilities amid the war, which Russia started when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Then, on Thursday this week, the US president told reporters that his administration “may” ask European countries to release diesel stocks, shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Europe to “immediately” tap its reserves. “Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions,” Bessent said in a social media post.

An EU government official told US media outlet Politico that the Trump administration did send a proposal to EU leaders on Thursday asking them to release 120 million barrels of diesel from their national strategic reserves over 180 days. EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters after a G-20 trade meeting in the US that he had discussed tight diesel supplies and price spikes with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and expressed Europe’s desire for a coordinated approach to lowering prices.

The demand comes because of soaring diesel prices in the US amid its war on Iran, which has all but halted energy exports from the Gulf. Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war has also disrupted energy supplies. “We’re tight on diesel because we’ve lost diesel exports from Russia… some diesel exports from the Middle East, although we’re restoring those, and we’ve lost diesel exports from China,” a White House official told Al Jazeera on Thursday. “So, that’s a lot of interruptions. But American refiners are running at record highs,” he added, saying that announcements from Europe about new supplies would also push prices down.

Eamon Drumm, a Paris-based fellow focusing on US-Europe energy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the US administration likely believes that if European countries release stocks, it will ease pressure on global diesel prices and in turn bring prices down in the US ahead of the midterm elections. He added that behind this is a frustration that France and Germany didn’t take more action earlier to release stocks, as well as an inclination to make Europe bear more of the global costs of the war with Iran.

EU countries, along with the United Kingdom, hold about 52 million metric tonnes of gas oil and diesel stocks, of which 37.50 million tonnes is reserved for emergencies, according to Eurostat’s June 2026 figures. EU rules require member states to maintain emergency oil stocks covering at least 90 days of net imports or 61 days of domestic consumption, whichever is greater. Germany holds the largest amount of emergency stocks at 5.6 million tonnes, followed by France, which holds 8.2 million tonnes, according to Eurostat data. The US diesel inventories, on the other hand, have hit a record low of 107.9 million barrels as of September 11, 2026. The UK, which has similar requirements for diesel emergency stocks, relies on the US for about 30 percent of its diesel and has a reserve of about 42 days.

Relations between the US and EU have been tense ever since Trump imposed new trading tariffs on the 27-member bloc last year as part of the trade war he launched around the world shortly after beginning his second term as US president in January 2025. Things took a turn for the worse last year when Trump demanded a deal to buy Greenland, refusing to rule out military force. European nations sent troops to the island in a show of defiance in January, causing Trump to threaten yet more tariffs for any countries standing in his way. He retreated from that stance following talks with NATO leader Mark Rutte and, last month, the US announced a new agreement with Denmark and Greenland which will allow the US to build new bases and veto investment from nations it considers hostile. Since all that, ties have soured even further as EU nations have refused to allow the US to use their airbases to launch attacks on Iran, and Washington is considering options for withdrawing troops from Europe. Trump’s latest demand that EU nations release diesel stocks has added to these tensions.

On Thursday, five European countries – France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the UK, held a meeting with the European Commission and agreed to respond with “one voice” to the US. Washington has previously asked these countries individually to release emergency diesel stocks and said these countries could face US diesel export bans if they did not release them. On Friday, the EU’s energy task force comprising the European Commission and 27 EU nations met again to discuss how to respond to Washington’s demands. Officials with knowledge of the meeting told the Reuters news agency that EU leaders discussed a proposal put forward by France, under which European countries would release 50 million barrels of diesel and International Energy Agency members would release 50 million barrels of crude oil.

On Thursday, EU trade chief Sefcovic told reporters that he understands “that there is the intention and definitely strong preference from the European side for a coordinated approach and for finding the solutions”. Frederic Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera that while Europe does indeed hold large mandatory product stocks, “the Trumpian fashion of issuing every request as an ultimatum makes it harder for European governments to agree”.

Schneider noted that the US is not short of diesel in absolute terms as a net exporter, but global market pricing means shortages anywhere raise US prices as well. Soaring diesel prices remain a source of acute tension for the Trump administration and Republicans fearing political fallout in the upcoming November midterm elections, with broader implications for global markets, logistics, agriculture, and the risk of worldwide stagflation.