Empiezan a salir al mercado los 100 millones de barriles de petróleo prometidos por el G7

This week, 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from the strategic reserves pledged by the G7 countries are set to begin flowing into the market on Sunday, accompanied by additional volume promised by other European nations to increase market fluidity and stability. The operation, approved by the International Energy Agency (IEA), is part of the decision made in March by the 32 member countries of the G7 to release 400 million barrels from their strategic reserves in response to the scarcity caused by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, which blocked about a fifth of the oil and liquefied natural gas that the Persian Gulf producers used to consume worldwide.

The seven wealthiest countries group, currently chaired by France, announced at the beginning of October their intention to put 100 million barrels on the market, under pressure from Donald Trump, who had warned of the possibility of banning US diesel exports if the fuel supply increase was not accelerated. On Thursday, 11 EU countries joined the initiative and announced they will release 42.6 million barrels of oil, half diesel, from their strategic reserves to try to contribute to the market stabilization.

Germany, France and Italy, who are also G7 members, are among those 11 EU countries. The rest are Greece, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Latvia, Sweden and the Netherlands. French President Emmanuel Macron, whose government faces serious difficulties due to social protests and rising living costs due to the sharp increase in fuel prices, has tried to present the G7 decision as an independent initiative within his action to support French purchasing power, according to EFE news agency.

France has indicated it will release 10 million barrels from its strategic reserves over three months and has put in place a control and supervision system to ensure the price impact filters down to gas stations, where it expects a fuel price reduction of between 12 and 18 cents per liter. French oil company TotalEnergies, often criticized for its high profits from crude oil and gas price hikes, started applying the rebate from the day before in its 705 service stations in France.

The price at these stations is set at 2.15 euros per liter of diesel, and TotalEnergies remains committed to maintaining a price ceiling of 2.25 euros across its French network. Not all of the 400 million barrels pledged by the IEA member organizations have been released into the market. Those belonging to the organization have the obligation to maintain strategic reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of net petroleum imports to be able to respond to serious supply interruptions.