Europe Mulls Emergency Oil Reserve Release Amid Global Fuel Shortages

Oil prices plummeted by 2% on Friday as European governments considered releasing emergency diesel and crude reserves to ease global fuel shortages.

The price drop saw Brent crude futures fall $2.83, or 2.77%, to $99.48 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $3.35, or 3.61%, to $89.52 per barrel.

Pressure on crude oil prices spread to refined products, with European gasoil futures falling over 5% to $1,377 per metric tonne as traders reacted to the possibility of additional emergency supplies entering the market.

The proposal by France calls for releasing 50 million barrels of diesel from emergency inventories and another 50 million barrels of crude oil through the International Energy Agency, potentially injecting a combined 100 million barrels into strained energy markets.