French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he would convene a G7 summit to look at releasing more strategic oil and fuel reserves as spreading conflict in the Middle East destabilises global energy markets. Brent crude soared to nearly $110 a barrel this week before falling back to around $104 on Friday, after supply concerns were worsened by an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline. Macron said he would make progress on better co-ordination regarding stock levels, with greater co-operation also on exports and production capacities.

Of the 400mn barrels agreed in March — the largest strategic release in the IEA’s history — 320mn had been released by August. The pace at which oil from the strategic stocks is entering global markets has slowed to a trickle. Most of the strategic reserves that have so far been released to calm markets have been US supplies of crude oil.

Europe has yet to deploy significant amounts of its stockpiles of refined fuels. Macron added that he would contact the European Commission president to co-ordinate a bloc-wide response on natural gas supplies, including increasing gas storage levels. Europe is entering the winter with record-low gas storage levels.

Normally EU countries draw on the gas in storage to provide around a third of the fuel used during the winter months. Macron said exceptional times call for exceptional measures and that Europe must act at the European level. Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS, warned that releasing strategic reserves could provide short-term relief but leave governments with less protection against future supply shocks.