The countries plan to release the oil by January 2027, including 20.5m barrels of diesel

Last updated: October 29, 2026 | 23:00

France, Germany and Italy are among the nations pledging to release millions of barrels by January. Shutterstock

Brussels: A dozen European countries pledged Thursday to jointly release 42.6 million barrels of oil by the end of January, in line with a G7 deal struck this month to ease global energy supply concerns.

"EU member states have reaffirmed their commitment to an accelerated release of 42.6 million barrels from strategic reserves over the next months, and around half of this will be diesel," the EU's energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen told reporters.

The 12 countries including France, Germany and Italy said in a statement they would release the oil from strategic reserves by the end of January 2027, including 20.5 million barrels of diesel.

Their announcement comes weeks after the G7 economies said they would release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil after US…