1. How much diesel and heating oil is in storage in Europe?
Germany, France, Spain and Austria together held more than 20,000 kilotonnes of road diesel at their latest monthly reading, most of it counted as EU emergency stock (Eurostat, August 2026, Austria September; own sum). The shares differ: in Germany 53.4% of road diesel stocks are emergency stocks, in France 94.1%, in Spain 96.9% (own calculations). Eurostat lumps heating oil together with other gasoil, so there is no separate line for household heating oil.
| Country, period | Product | Total stock (kt) | of which EU emergency stock (kt) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany, August 2026 | Road diesel | 7,971 | 4,260 |
| Heating and other gasoil | 2,398 | 1,473 | |
| Motor gasoline | 2,716 | 1,402 | |
| Jet fuel (kerosene) | 1,286 | 995 | |
| France, August 2026 | Road diesel | 7,690 | 7,233 |
| Heating and other gasoil | 1,022 | 566 | |
| Motor gasoline | 2,214 | 1,785 | |
| Jet fuel (kerosene) | 1,408 | 1,261 | |
| Spain, August 2026 | Road diesel | 3,914 | 3,792 |
| Heating and other gasoil | 1,501 | 1,441 | |
| Motor gasoline | 1,503 | 1,461 | |
| Jet fuel (kerosene) | 882 | 838 | |
| Austria, September 2026 | Road diesel | 846 | 680 |
| Heating and other gasoil | 215 | 204 | |
| Motor gasoline | 299 | 173 | |
| Jet fuel (kerosene) | 149 | 46 |
The summer is telling. In June Germany's total gas and diesel oil stocks fell by 1,145 kilotonnes from May while the emergency part stayed almost flat at 5,603 kilotonnes; by the end of August totals were back up by 1,683 kilotonnes, the emergency part by only 129 (own calculations from Eurostat). Commercial stocks swung, the reserve barely moved. In France the emergency part fell by 328 kilotonnes in June and was 219 kilotonnes higher in August than in June. How long all this would last can only be said for oil as a whole: Eurostat's day counts under the EU Directive cover all products together, with 97.1 days for Germany, 96.5 for France and 104.8 for Spain in August 2026.
2. What are national oil reserves made of?
Germany's agency EBV held 19.7 million tonnes of crude oil equivalent on 31 December 2025, of which 10.8 million tonnes crude and 8.9 million tonnes products, led by 4.5 million tonnes of diesel (EBV; product sum own calculation). Spain's agency CORES and, according to Public Sénat, France's strategic stocks lean further towards products, and Switzerland counts its compulsory stocks in months of demand.
| Reserve, date, unit | Crude | Diesel / gasoil | Heating oil | Petrol | Jet fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany, EBV, 31 Dec 2025, million tonnes crude oil equivalent (total 19.7) | 10.8 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
| Spain, CORES, end-2024, share of 6.5 million m³ | 28% | 54.2% (all gasoils) | 10.8% | 6.3% | |
| France, strategic stocks, share per Public Sénat (March 2026) | about one third | 49.8% | 2.7% | 9.1% | 7.8% |
| Switzerland, compulsory stocks, end-2024, months of demand (Carbura) | n/a | 4.6 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 2.8 |
Units differ by row; compare within a row only. The remaining 0.5% of CORES stocks is fuel oil. The 6.5 million m³ come from the CORES annual report for 2024; a CORES presentation of July 2024 gives 8,471 thousand m³ for the end of 2023. The two figures have not been reconciled; CORES sold surplus stocks in 2024. The Swiss months are end-2024 values (Carbura), not September 2026.
The United Kingdom has no central agency: companies carry the obligation of 67.5 days of consumption, of which at least 22 days must be finished products (IEA, 2022). In the IEA table, the UK contribution to the 2026 action is 14.0 million barrels, 9.7 million of them products; the government had announced 13.5 million barrels in its written statement of 12 March. Switzerland's targets are 4.5 months for petrol, diesel and heating oil and 3 months for jet fuel; on 21 September the BWL reported jet fuel cover of about 76 days, and on 23 October it allowed up to 45,000 cubic metres of diesel to be drawn from compulsory stocks until 22 November (BWL).
3. Why do diesel and jet fuel stocks matter more than crude in a crisis?
Crude only helps if a refinery can process it; diesel in a depot can be used at once, and 125 of the 426 million barrels in the 2026 IEA action were finished products (IEA, 19 March 2026). EU Directive 2009/119/EC requires a country that does not commit to 30 days of so-called specific stocks to hold at least one third of its obligation as products. According to the IEA, the European contributions to the 2026 action were to take mainly the form of products (details on IEA release 2026: who gave what).
2026 shows why. The bottleneck is refining: the Northwest Europe diesel crack, the premium of diesel over crude, rose from a June average of $44.75 a barrel to $80.50 in August and a record $98 on 1 September (S&P Global). Russia banned diesel exports by producers until 31 October 2026 (Kommersant, 30 September) and, according to Reuters, plans to extend the ban to year-end while supplying the US through quotas (29 October); for other sellers and for gasoline the ban runs to 31 January 2027 (Aurora News). In the US, distillate stocks were 107.9 million barrels in the week to 11 September, the lowest September level since 1982 (EnergyNow, 22 September), and 102.8 million in the week to 23 October (EIA, 28 October). Why heating oil tracks diesel is explained in middle distillates.
4. Where did diesel and jet fuel run tight in 2026?
Switzerland had to draw on its compulsory stocks: after the Cressier refinery outage and with low water on the Rhine, up to 30,000 cubic metres each of diesel and petrol could be withdrawn from 8 to 20 September 2026, under 3% of stocks (BWL). According to the BWL press release of 21 September, all of the petrol and about two thirds of the diesel were drawn; the volumes must be restocked within six months of the end of the measure (BWL, 8 September).
In France, 17% of about 9,900 filling stations were short of at least one fuel, according to L'EnerGeek (21 September), and an order allows summer-grade diesel to be sold until 15 November instead of 1 November (L'Automobiliste, 22 September). Germany's EBV refilled diesel over the summer, with tenders of about 630,000 barrels in late June and more than 760,000 barrels in the first week of July, according to Bloomberg (via Rigzone, 7 July); since the Bundesrat vote of 16 October it is offering diesel and heating oil from the reserve first (Reuters). In the UK, physical stocks in the first quarter were 5.6% lower than a year earlier after the 2025 closures of the Grangemouth and Lindsey refineries, although total holdings of 10.2 million tonnes still “more than” met the IEA's 90-day requirement (DESNZ).
5. What can households do?
National reserves exist for supply emergencies, not for your tank; what you can plan is your own fill level and your supplier's delivery time. Our heating oil tank calculator shows how long your oil lasts through a typical winter and when an order falls due. The trade-offs of ordering early or later are set out in Heating oil: buy now or wait?; UK households heating with kerosene will find prices on UK heating oil and kerosene prices.
For drivers, the 2026 diesel squeeze shows up mostly in prices, and in France also at some pumps; what winter may bring is covered in Diesel shortage winter 2026/27. Official stock data arrive late: Eurostat's release of 4 November runs to August 2026 for Germany, France and Spain and to September for Austria.
How to cite: Global Oil Shock (Jörg Dässler), “Diesel Reserves in Europe: How Much Is in Storage?”, as of 4 Nov 2026, https://globaloilshock.com/en/strategic-oil-reserves/diesel-jet-fuel-stocks/