00:00French Prime Minister Sébastien Le Conu announced Wednesday that France will release 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic
00:07reserves to help ease pressure on the fuel market.
00:11The diesel reserves will be made available to distributors in France, a measure that will mechanically lower prices at the
00:18pump by around 12 to 18 euro cents per liter of diesel.
00:21The decree is expected to last for at least three months. Le Conu also called the France state-owned electricity
00:28utility company EDF to maximize its production capacity with the aim of ensuring that electricity prices do not increase this
00:36winter.
00:37The move came amid continued rise in fuel prices with the conflict in the Middle East and disruption to traffic
00:43through the Strait of Omos putting further pressure on the market.
00:46Recent diesel prices in Europe have remained persistently high and the U.S. government's threat to ban diesel export has
00:53further intensified market concerns about Europe's energy supply.
