Europe will release 42 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves over the next three months to help ease price pressures, French Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on October 29, according to Bloomberg.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of European Union energy ministers in Luxembourg, Lescure added that diesel would account for half of the planned release, Bloomberg reported.

France will begin supplying the market with 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic reserves in the coming days, Lescure said.

The fuel will be sold at cost, potentially reducing prices by 12-18 euro cents per liter, he added.

Lescure described diesel as being at the heart of the challenges Europe faced, adding that he hoped the current crisis would be resolved gradually, while Europe would keep all options open for releasing further emergency reserves.