IEA to speed up oil stocks release including over 20 million barrels of diesel

By Forrest Crellin, Robert Harvey and Pietro Lombardi

PARIS/LONDON/MADRID, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The International Energy Agency agreed on Thursday to release over 20 million barrels of diesel to the market and any oil remaining from a record emergency reserves release pledged in March to boost supply and cool soaring prices.

US President Donald Trump has pressed European Union countries to draw down reserves or face a potential US diesel export ban as he seeks to lower prices ahead of November 3 midterm elections.

Diesel prices have surged to record highs in many markets due to disrupted supply because of the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, posing inflation and cost-of-living threats to governments and consumers.

The 32-nation IEA's board met on Thursday to discuss the scale and timing of stock releases.

"The IEA governing board reaffirmed its commitment to continue delivering on the March 2026 Collective Action in response to the Strait of Hormuz crisis," it said in a statement after the meeting.

In March, countries had pledged to release more than 400 million barrels of crude and oil products as prices soared.

On Thursday, members "agreed to accelerate the release of the remaining volumes, with specific plans already in place, including over 20 million barrels of diesel as soon as possible." 

SOME DISAPPOINTMENT OVER LACK OF EXTRA BARRELS

Reuters reported this month that EU governments were discussing a French proposal for the release of 50 million barrels of diesel alongside 50 million barrels of crude from IEA members.

"The IEA announcement is a step in the right direction, but falls short on the details the market was looking for," said Abhishek Kumar, an analyst at Sparta Commodities. "The 20+ million barrels of diesel appear to be an acceleration of existing commitments rather than genuinely new volumes."

The IEA, which coordinates industrialised nations' releases of oil from emergency stocks, said some members had already released more than they pledged in March and that others planned to do so.

Members have released approximately 330 million barrels so far, the IEA said.

The US Energy Department said further IEA releases, with a focus on diesel, are under review and in progress, citing the IEA statement.

But the Trump administration "continues to hold European nations accountable for failing to fulfill their previous commitments to minimize supply disruptions in global energy markets and to help lower energy prices," the Energy Department spokesperson added.

The White House, when asked if it was unhappy with the IEA's commitment to draw down reserves, provided the IEA's statement from Thursday on the releases.

Spain said on Thursday it would release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October.

Spain has released 3.7 million of the 11.5 million barrels it pledged in March.

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin, Pietro Lombardi and Robert Harvey, editing by Alex Lawler, Kirsten Donovan, Jason Neely, Rod Nickel; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Timothy Gardner)