BlockBeats news, on October 7, according to a memo from an internal EU meeting cited by Bloomberg, EU member states generally believe that the G7’s announcement last week to coordinate the release of 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel does not imply that Europe needs to draw further significantly from its strategic reserves beyond its prior commitments. The EU tends to limit any subsequent releases to the volume already agreed upon in March, meaning there could be a significant discrepancy between the G7’s stated figure of “100 million barrels” and the actual additional supply delivered in the future.
The G7 previously announced that, under the coordination of the International Energy Agency (IEA), it would release a total of 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel over the next four months, with a request to prioritize and significantly accelerate the release of diesel in the initial 20 days. However, to date, no EU member state has explicitly committed to additional stock releases within this timeframe.
In March of this year, IEA member countries agreed on a strategic release of approximately 400 million barrels of crude oil and refined products, with EU member states collectively responsible for about 20%. As of early October, about two-thirds of the allocated volume had been released, while some portions remain unfulfilled. The current mainstream position within the EU is to fulfill existing commitments rather than expand the overall release volume; some countries are calling on the IEA to first assess the impact of the previous releases on markets and energy security.
Regarding diesel, Europe may agree to bring forward existing quotas originally scheduled for later release, but is unwilling to add extra supply. European policymakers are concerned that depleting strategic reserves too early, amid fragile supply chains in the Middle East and rising winter energy demand, could undermine the ability to respond to future supply shocks.