Europe holds millions of tonnes of crude oil, diesel and other fuels in reserve for a major supply crisis. With governments preparing to tap those stocks for the second time this year, a key question arises. If a serious disruption hits, who decides when the oil reaches the market? The answer lies in a combination of EU rules, national sovereignty and international coordination.
What Europe keeps in reserve
Under EU rules, every member state must maintain emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports or 61 days of domestic consumption.
There is no single European oil reserve under the control of Brussels. The stocks are held nationally in one of three ways:
- Directly by governments.
- Through specialised national stockholding agencies.
- As mandatory reserves held by the oil industry.
Where the emergency stocks are stored
The reserves are not evenly distributed across the EU, particularly when it comes to refined products such as diesel and gasoil.
Of the EU’s roughly 39 million metric tonnes of emergency gasoil and diesel, equivalent to around 290 million barrels, France and Germany account for about 35%.
Some smaller countries, including Belgium and Malta, keep part of their emergency stocks in France and Germany. This raises a further question: who controls stocks that are stored in one country but belong to another?
Who decides to release the oil
In a crisis, the crucial decisions remain with national governments. The reserves stay under national control, so each government decides when its stocks are released and how its contribution is made.
The European Commission cannot order oil onto the market. Its role is to set the rules, monitor whether countries hold enough reserves and coordinate between governments.
“The decision to release and the organisation to release is with the IEA,” a Commission spokesperson told reporters on Monday. The spokesperson added that the Commission stands ready to convene an oil coordination group or, if needed, an EU energy security task force meeting to coordinate further.
When the International Energy Agency steps in
A single country releasing oil may do little to calm a global supply shock. This is where the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) comes in.
The IEA coordinates emergency releases among its member countries, allowing governments to put large volumes of oil on the market at roughly the same time.
If a supply shock is severe enough, the IEA’s governing board can agree a coordinated collective action, with its 32 member countries contributing to the response.
“It’s for the IEA to manage the prices and then for the member states participating in a possible release to determine a level of transparency when it comes to concrete products subject to the release,” the Commission spokesperson said.
How the mechanism has worked this year
The IEA mechanism has been triggered twice since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.
In March, European countries contributed 107.5 million barrels to a 400-million-barrel IEA emergency release, around a quarter of the total, according to IEA data.
Of the European contribution, 32.7 million barrels came from state-owned emergency stocks. The rest was drawn from mandatory industry stocks.
The Americas contributed 195.8 million barrels and the Asia-Pacific region 108.6 million barrels.
The current release
The G7 has announced that 100 million barrels of oil are expected to be released over the next four months. Diesel stocks will be frontloaded to help curb rising prices and fears of supply disruption.
The exact split between diesel and crude oil remains unclear. Ahead of the official announcement, EU diplomats told Euronews the release would be divided evenly between the two. The IEA did not respond to a Euronews request for comment.
What happens next
A meeting of the Commission, EU governments and oil industry representatives was originally scheduled for 15 October. It will now likely take place early next week, according to an EU official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said the aim is to assess how EU countries plan to meet their IEA commitments. These include releasing diesel within the next 20 days and the plans for the remaining four months.
With information from Euronews
