UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is holding emergency talks with her US counterpart, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, over Donald Trump's threat to curb diesel exports to Europe — a move that could upend supply and send pump prices soaring.

City AM first reported the discussions. A person familiar with the matter said Fahnbulleh is in direct contact with Wright to address a potential US decision to choke off diesel flows to the European market.

The stakes are straightforward: the US is a major diesel supplier to Europe, and any restriction on those cargoes would tighten an already fragile supply picture across the continent. For UK hauliers, refiners and motorists, the difference between steady transatlantic flows and a curtailed market shows up directly at the pump.

The Trump administration is also applying pressure of a second kind, according to the report. Washington is pushing the UK and Europe to tap into their emergency diesel stockpiles as a response to the strained market.

Why the talks matter now

The intervention by Fahnbulleh marks a shift from monitoring to direct ministerial engagement. Rather than waiting for a formal US policy decision, the UK is seeking to shape the outcome before export curbs take effect.

That timeline matters for downstream planning. Refinery turnaround schedules, cargo bookings and terminal inventories across northwest Europe are set weeks in advance. A sudden withdrawal of US diesel barrels would force traders to re-source supply from the Middle East, India or elsewhere at short notice — typically at a premium.

Emergency stockpiles, meanwhile, are designed for genuine supply disruptions, not price management. Releasing them at Washington's urging would raise questions in London and Brussels about who controls the trigger — and how quickly the reserves can be replenished.

What the US is asking for

According to the source cited by City AM, the administration's pressure campaign has two elements:

• A potential curb on US diesel exports to Europe, restricting the flow of barrels across the Atlantic
• A demand that the UK and Europe draw down their emergency fuel stockpiles to ease market strain

Neither measure has been confirmed as final policy. The status of the export threat remains a negotiating position from the Trump administration, and no drawdown of UK or European reserves has been announced.

The watch items

Three developments will define this story in the coming weeks:

• Whether the US formalises any export restriction on diesel, and what volumes it would cover
• Whether the UK or EU governments commit to releasing emergency stockpiles, and under what authority
• How diesel crack spreads and pump prices respond as traders price in the supply risk — price commentary so far remains analysis, not established outcome

For now, the talks between Fahnbulleh and Wright are the sole confirmed channel. Until Washington either acts or stands down, European diesel buyers are left planning around a threat whose size and timing neither side has defined.