Germany releases more oil reserves and plans to secure its eleven refineries

Reserve release under G7 and IEA commitments

Germany is releasing a further portion of its strategic oil reserve, the Economy Ministry said in response to an inquiry, citing international obligations and a G7 decision. A regulation published in the Federal Law Gazette on Wednesday, 21 October, temporarily lowers Germany's reserve from 90 to 82 days. Under a key set by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Germany is to contribute 19.5 million barrels of a total 100 million. The ministry said 6 million barrels had been released by October, and the remaining 13.5 million will first be drawn from diesel and heating oil stocks.

A timeline from war to refinery plan

The sequence began with the outbreak of the Iran war in late February, when fuel prices at German filling stations climbed sharply. The Strait of Hormuz was closed in March, and the IEA decided on stock releases the same month. The G7 states called for reserve stocks to be actually released in early October. Germany's reserve regulation came on 21 October, and the Economy Ministry launched its refinery dialogue on Friday, 23 October.

A refinery strategy for eleven sites

Reiche launched the planned refinery strategy in Berlin on Friday, 23 October, opening a dialogue with industry, unions, federal states and ministries. Four working groups are to deliver results in the first quarter of 2027, and the cabinet is to adopt the strategy afterwards. Germany has eleven refineries with a combined processing capacity of just over 92 million tonnes of crude oil a year, according to the ministry. Reiche said that of about 100 refineries running in Europe in 2009, 30 had been closed or converted.

Reiche summed up the trade-off this way.

We closed refineries and traded that for import dependence.

The ministry calls keeping refining capacity a 'strategic priority' of industrial policy. It warns that imports could not offset the loss of refineries, which would threaten chemical companies or force them to relocate. Converting the sites toward sustainable feedstock would require investment in the billions.

Diesel supply and import dependence

Reiche said that when Gulf deliveries failed in spring 2026, Europe lost a quarter of its diesel and kerosene supply. She argued that crude can be bought, even at high prices and by roundabout routes, but that refined products depend on producers.

But someone has to produce diesel.

Reiche said refined product prices rose by as much as 180 percent at their peak after the Strait of Hormuz closed in March. Nearly half of diesel imports now come from the United States. Reiche called these established partners but also a new dependence, with more products imported, higher prices paid and high risk premiums for supply security. The Federal Statistical Office reported that refineries produced 11.0 million tonnes of motor and aviation gasoline in the first half of 2026, up 1.8 percent, and 15.8 million tonnes of diesel, up 9.4 percent.

Industry and climate tensions

Christian Küchen, chief executive of the en2x fuels and energy association, called the strategy of enormous importance for energy supply for transport and heating as well as for key raw materials. Refineries face high competitive pressure, and the association points to growing burdens from the EU emissions trading scheme. Michael Vassiliadis, head of the IGBCE chemical union, demanded reform of that scheme.

We have to find a way to make the whole thing economically manageable.

Vassiliadis warned that otherwise companies could move abroad. Reiche also criticised EU Commission plans to enforce climate rules in the oil and gas industry, including a methane regulation, and said the government would not allow negative effects on refineries.