Stocks fell 2.5% from June and 4.2% from a year earlier, continuing a downward trend since March 2026. Eurostat says 13 countries were below their minimum levels and must replenish their reserves.
The European Union held 103.5 million tonnes of emergency oil stocks in July 2026, down 2.5% from June and 4.2% from July 2025, Eurostat said on 12 November. Stocks have trended downward since March 2026.
Emergency stocks were mostly stable around an average of 108.5 million tonnes in 2025, before falling to 105.5 million tonnes in December and recovering to previous levels in the first quarter of 2026.
Eurostat links the decline to a decision by International Energy Agency countries to release reserves in response to oil-market disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East.
EU law requires countries to maintain emergency reserves. Commercial stocks are reported separately and are held by businesses for their own operational and commercial needs; they can also be available when needed. Eurostat says reserves support energy security because the EU depends on oil imports, while oil products are particularly important to transport and the petrochemical industry.
Commercial oil stocks reached 52.5 million tonnes in July, up 5.7% from June and 10.6% from July 2025. Emergency reserves consist mainly of crude oil, gas or diesel oil, and gasoline; countries choose their mix to suit their needs.
Germany held the largest emergency stocks in July, at 20 million tonnes, followed by France with 16.4 million, Spain with 14.2 million and Italy with 9.4 million. Germany also held the largest commercial stocks, at 11.2 million tonnes, followed by the Netherlands with 10 million, Italy with 5.8 million, France with 3.9 million and Poland with 3.5 million.
Eurostat said 13 countries were below their minimum emergency stock levels in July: Bulgaria, Czechia, Ireland, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Portugal, the Netherlands, Malta and Romania.
A separate agreement could give Armenia access to up to $262 million over the next two years, subject to approval and reviews. The IMF Executive Board is expected to discuss both agreements in mid-December.
Under the EU directive, each country must hold stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of average daily net imports or 61 days of average daily domestic consumption, whichever is greater. Obligations are recalculated each July using the previous year’s production and trade data, and the method applied can change.
The compliance calculation uses multipliers to reassess physical stock quantities and annual import and consumption figures. Eurostat says this can produce apparent discrepancies between the tonnage and compliance datasets; some data are provisional and marked in its database.
Countries must replenish stocks to their required minimums and cooperate with the European Commission to set a reasonable time frame, taking domestic and international oil-market conditions into account.
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