BRUSSELS, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) member states have pledged to accelerate the release of 42.6 million barrels of strategic oil reserves over the coming months, nearly half of which will be diesel, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said Thursday.
EU energy ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss energy security ahead of the winter, energy prices and measures to stabilize diesel supplies.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jorgensen said relevant EU member states had reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the release of 42.6 million barrels from strategic reserves.
Jorgensen warned that the EU faced a difficult winter. While he did not expect problems with energy supply security for the time being, he acknowledged that the situation remained challenging for people struggling to pay their energy bills.
Diesel prices across the EU remain elevated. According to the European Commission's latest Weekly Oil Bulletin, the EU's average retail diesel price stood at around 2.15 euros (about 2.4 U.S. dollars) per liter on Oct. 26, up roughly 35 percent from late February, before the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East.
In March, members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 400 million barrels of emergency oil stocks in response to supply disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Global energy markets remain under pressure amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. In its October Oil Market Report, the IEA said global diesel markets remained tight, with prolonged disruptions to supplies from the Middle East and Russia contributing to declining inventories, while diesel prices in Europe and other regions remained elevated. ■
