The U.S. Administration has urged Germany and France to release diesel from emergency stockpiles or face a potential American diesel export ban, sources close to the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.

Germany and France, Europe's two largest economies, hold a sizeable share of the EU's emergency reserves, which is why Washington has directed its pressure at Berlin and Paris rather than at Brussels collectively.

The threat lands on a market already stretched thin. Crude oil prices jumped again in September to above $100 per barrel, and global fuel markets — diesel in particular — have continued to tighten. Diesel prices have hit record highs in many countries, including the United States.

For U.S. refiners, the stakes are direct. A diesel export ban would remove an outlet that has been absorbing domestic production at a time when distillate inventories sit near seasonal lows and refinery runs are constrained by maintenance and limited capacity additions. It would also hit European buyers, who depend on transatlantic diesel cargoes to cover a structural supply deficit left by reduced Russian exports.

The U.S. has used the export-ban lever before. Washington banned crude exports for four decades until Congress lifted the restriction in 2015, and a fuel export ban was debated but never imposed during the price spikes of 2022.

For European governments, the demand cuts against the strategic stockpile logic. Emergency reserves exist to cover supply disruptions, not to cool prices, and drawing them down at Washington's request would leave EU member states with less cover heading into winter.

Germany and France have not publicly responded to the U.S. demand, and no decision on a coordinated release has been announced.

Watch item: Whether Berlin and Paris agree to a stockpile release — and whether Washington follows through on the export-ban threat if they refuse. Any formal move by the U.S. to restrict diesel exports would land immediately on Gulf Coast and Atlantic Basin cargo flows and crack spreads.