G7 leaders have agreed to release as much as 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from reserves, the BBC reported on Friday. The decision was announced in live coverage published by the broadcaster on 2 October 2026.
The move comes as fuel costs climb sharply in the United Kingdom. According to Reuters, the average UK diesel pump price reached £2 per litre for the first time. The RAC motoring group put the average at 200.01p per litre, up from 199.79p the previous day, a figure circulated in a social media post.
Prices are also rising elsewhere in the UK. The Star reported that diesel prices in Northern Ireland are at their highest level since the war with Iran began. MoneyWeek, meanwhile, published a piece arguing that the diesel crisis will reveal Britain's weakness.
The G7 announcement covers both diesel and crude oil, though the BBC's summary did not specify a timeline for the release or how the barrels would be divided among member countries. No further details on the mechanism of the release were available in the reporting.
The timing reflects mounting pressure on governments as pump prices feed into wider cost concerns. The UK's £2-per-litre milestone marks a symbolic threshold that has drawn attention from both motoring organisations and financial press.
What to watch next: whether the planned release is enough to ease pump prices, and how quickly the barrels reach the market.
