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Macron secures Gulf diesel as French pumps run dry, heads to Qatar
The UAE and Bahrain have each agreed to send France 100,000 tonnes of diesel a month, as the French president tours the Gulf with energy chiefs in tow.
Key points
- The UAE and Bahrain each committed to supply 100,000 tonnes of diesel a month to France.
- Macron signed eight agreements with Kuwait on the first day of his tour.
- Up to 20% of French petrol stations have run dry at times since the war on Iran began.
French President Emmanuel Macron has lined up fresh diesel supplies from the Gulf on a three-day tour of the region, as fuel shortages and street protests pile pressure on his government at home.
The United Arab Emirates committed on Tuesday to supply France with 100,000 tonnes of diesel a month for an unspecified period. Bahrain, where Macron landed at Sakhir air base later in the day, agreed to the same amount. Saudi Arabia is already providing 95,000 tonnes in each of October and November, delivered through TotalEnergies.
Together the deals raise Gulf commitments to France to about 295,000 tonnes a month, just over a tenth of French consumption. A hundred thousand tonnes of diesel is roughly 746,000 barrels.
Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Manama, Doha
Macron began the trip in Kuwait, where the two countries signed eight agreements and cooperation documents covering defence, artificial intelligence and investment. In Abu Dhabi on Monday he met UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the two reaffirmed cooperation in energy, advanced technology and AI. Qatar is his last stop. Senior executives from TotalEnergies and Engie are travelling with him.
Trade between France and the UAE reached €10.8 billion in 2025. France supplied 18% of the UAE’s arms and defence imports that year, second only to the United States at 42%.
Pressure at home
The war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have pushed oil above $100 a barrel. Up to 20% of French petrol stations have run out of petrol and diesel at various points since the conflict began. More than 500,000 people protested across France on Saturday, and over 2,500 have been arrested in weeks of unrest over the budget and the cost of living.
France has also deepened its security role in the Gulf. In late September Macron said France would send “soldiers, radars, defence systems” to help protect Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu oil terminal on the Red Sea, and the Foreign Ministry later said “operational elements” had been deployed. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot met his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Monday.
Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said the visit was “symptomatic of a much larger geopolitical transformation”. The central dilemma for Paris, he said, was whether deeper involvement could draw France into the conflict itself.
Relations with Tehran are already strained. Iran detained two French embassy staff in July and declared them persona non grata, and France expelled two Iranian diplomats in August.