The Group of Seven economies and their partners have agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of emergency crude oil and diesel inventories to relieve tight fuel supplies and bring down elevated diesel costs. The coordinated intervention will run through the International Energy Agency over the next four months, with diesel deliveries given priority in the initial phase.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the decision on Friday, 2 October. He said the participants had jointly committed to releasing strategic reserves in agreed proportions, with a focus on diesel, and to ensuring that no export bans are introduced. The agreement follows pressure from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which had pushed European countries to accelerate releases from emergency fuel stockpiles as diesel prices climbed. In a social media post, Trump said Europe had agreed to release a massive volume of heavily stocked diesel and that the process would begin immediately.
Under the arrangement, a significant volume of diesel is expected to reach the market within the first 20 days, and the IEA could consider further drawdowns if supply conditions remain tight. Part of the planned 100 million barrels will come from stocks already committed under an earlier IEA-coordinated release in March that have yet to be placed on the market. European gasoil futures, a key diesel benchmark, fell roughly 4.3 percent to $1,386.75 per metric tonne on Friday afternoon as traders anticipated additional supply.
The March IEA programme involved about 400 million barrels, the largest coordinated stock drawdown in the agency's roughly 50-year history. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said earlier this week that around one-third of those initial stocks remained unreleased. Diesel markets have been under particular strain since the Iran conflict began in late February, following disruptions to Middle Eastern production and shipping through critical routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. Limited global refining capacity and continued disruption from the Russia-Ukraine war have compounded supply pressures.
Nigeria has felt the impact through higher domestic diesel prices. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil was N1,420.17 per litre in February 2026, while current market data place diesel at about N1,800 per litre. That represents an increase of roughly 27 percent from February and compares with N1,730 per litre one month ago and N1,442.50 three months ago. Against N964.75 per litre a year ago, the current price is about 86.6 percent higher.
