The government sold of just 63 percent of a total of 4.2 million barrels - divided equally between crude and oil products — that were offered to the local market in tenders last week, in line with the IEA’s plan to address the soaring costs of energy.

Germany’s stockpiling agency EBV said that no decision had yet been made about whether to issue tenders to release the remaining volumes. 

A breakdown of the volumes sold last week was not available, but traders said the bulk was likely to have been crude oil because there is still a strong incentive to store products such as diesel.

“The market isn’t pricing to pull barrels (of gasoil) out of stock. It’s not a short market. So the low take-up doesn’t surprise most people,” said a distillates trader.

The decision from France to extend the period in which stocks could be released by three months through to December was taken to be a further signal that additional volumes in the region were unlikely to be snapped up in a second round.

Under the terms of the German tender, all bidders had to be EBV member companies, which by law all oil firms in Germany must be in order to produce or import crude and products. 

There remained doubts, however, over the status of traders who operated as intermediaries within the territory and the precise terms of EBV membership, prompting some to argue that limitations on participation may have contributed to the apparent lack interest in the tender.

One trader with a European refiner said it had been keen to participate in the German tender but was not easily able to obtain information on it. 

“We were interested but failed to understand how we could participate,” he said.

The take-up of volumes offered via tender in other countries has also been weak, with Belgium selling only a portion of volumes offered in the days following the release.

The majority of European countries, including the UK, Italy and France, have opted to lower minimum stock requirements instead of offering the volumes of crude and products to the market via a tender. 

In the absence of an obligation to sell, traders say the impact of the IEA’s plan has been minimal and that after the initial slump in prices, markets have returned to pre-release levels.

“In reality, the talk among traders is that nothing will move. Margins were slight before the release, and they are still slight. Prices dropped for moment, but they are strong again,” said a distillates trader.