"We're not going to be doing the export ban," President Trump told reporters at the White House last Friday, October 2. "We were never going to do it." The remark came the same day Group of Seven (G7) leaders agreed to release emergency fuel stocks.

Following a call among G7 leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron's office announced the group will release 100 million barrels through the International Energy Agency (IEA) over four months, including "a frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days."

The administration is still weighing other options, including allowing broader sales of red dyed diesel, which is exempt from the 24.4 cent federal highway excise tax, according to Reuters. No decision has been made yet.

For scale, EU countries held about 350 million barrels of diesel in June, including roughly 267 million barrels in strategic reserves, according to Eurostat. Analysts estimate the diesel portion of the release would add about 415,000 barrels per day of supply, assuming about half of the 100 million barrels is diesel. The release builds on the 400-million-barrel drawdown IEA members agreed to in March, the largest in the agency's history.

The United States also holds 1 million barrels of ultra-low sulfur diesel in the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, managed by the Department of Energy (details here). Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) asked the President to release it on September 22, citing high heating oil prices, but no release has been announced. We will continue to report on the release and any decision on dyed diesel as they develop.