The EU Commission, France, Italy, Ireland and Britain are holding a call on the possible need to release diesel stocks, an EU official said today.
A Commission spokesperson had earlier declined direct comment on reports that the Trump administration has told Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help to ease global fuel prices or face a potential US diesel export ban.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said today that he is discussing the need for European countries to release diesel reserves with some ofhis European G20 trade counterparts on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Milwaukee.
Greer said in a Bloomberg Television interview that some European countries “are sitting on reserves of diesel, and our sense would be they should probably release some of these if they’re feeling like they’re having a spike in Europe. The price is higher in Europe.”
Asked about a Reuters report that the Trump administration has told France and Germany to release diesel reserves or face potential US diesel export restrictions, Greer said he has had such discussions about the topic with his French counterpart inMilwaukee.
“I spoke with my French counterpart yesterday. Very good conversation,” Greer said. “Neither he nor I are the energy minister, but we are trade ministers, and so I let him know that this is an idea that we’ve had in the US. We’d love to have a collaborative response to this. That’s what we’d like to see happen.”
Greer said that he would also meet with European Union trade chief Maros Sefcovic and, “I’ll carry the same message.”
