After long hesitation Belgium taps part of its emergency diesel stocks, but pump prices will barely fall
The country is contributing 260,000 barrels to the International Energy Agency's joint action, but the law requires the fuel to be sold at market price.
Belgium is releasing about 35,000 tonnes of road diesel from its strategic stocks, roughly 260,000 barrels, as its contribution to a joint action by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The office of federal energy minister Mathieu Bihet (MR) confirmed this after Le Soir reported it on Tuesday, writes RTBF. Belgium long refused to use its stocks to ease the global market but changed course after pressure from the United States, according to RTBF. In March Bihet had said the emergency reserve would not be touched for now, prix-carburant.eu recalls. According to Business AM, the minister previously argued that strategic reserves should secure supply rather than steer prices.
Supply is not at risk, according to the minister's office, as stocks remain above 90 days of consumption. Motorists should not expect a fall at the pump: the law requires the diesel to be sold at market price, RTBF reports. The main effect, according to Business AM, is that market swings will be dampened somewhat.
France is taking a different approach. There, 10 million barrels of diesel from the strategic reserve are going to distributors at cost over three months, with the aim of lowering the price by 12 to 18 cents a litre from 1 November, writes prix-carburant.eu. Distributors must pass on the discount, and the French consumer fraud authority is checking compliance. On 1 November the average diesel price in France stood at 2.337 euros a litre, against 2.373 euros a day earlier.
In March the IEA had already announced the release of 400 million barrels from the stocks of its 32 members, the largest of six joint actions since 1974. By 2 October about 325 million barrels of that had actually been released, according to prix-carburant.eu. In October the G7 and the EU pledged another 100 million barrels of oil and diesel. According to Business AM, these actions have done little to move world prices, and the market depends mainly on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The wholesale price of diesel has tripled since February, partly because of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.