A tanker carrying Russian diesel is on its way to New York, marking the first shipment bound for the U.S. as part of a deal made by President Donald Trump with Russia.
The Agioi Fanendes, registered under the Maltese flag, loaded 40,000 metric tons of diesel on Thursday at the Primorsk port along the Baltic Sea, and it’s expected to arrive in the U.S. by November 7, according to reports from Reuters, which cited shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group. Currently, the national average for diesel stands at $6.32 per gallon, a significant increase from $3.63 a year ago, as reported by the American Automobile Association.
“More diesel supply is good news for farmers, truckers, and households struggling with high fuel prices, but one single tanker won’t fix our broader diesel supply issues,” said Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, in comments to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The shipment contains nearly 300,000 barrels, while the U.S. consumes about 3.6 million barrels of diesel daily, noted Max Pyziur, who is the research director for refining, fuels, natural gas, and electricity projects at the Energy Policy Research Foundation.
“So, in the grand scheme, a 300,000-barrel shipment is pretty small and won’t significantly change either prices or inventory levels,” he added.
Trump mentioned on Truth Social on October 9 that Russia would “immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel fuel to the American and global marketplace,” with plans for an additional 500,000 tons in November and another million tons thereafter.
However, a bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Susan Collins from Maine, Republican Thom Tillis from North Carolina, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire, pointed out on October 11 that these imports contradict a 2022 law that prohibits Russian energy imports.
The offices of Collins, Tillis, and Shaheen did not provide immediate comments to the DCNF.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Friday that the first tanker under this agreement had left port but didn’t clarify its destination. The identities of both the buyer and seller remain unknown, as reported by Reuters.
“We will continue to send more supplies at a steady pace from this point onward,” Peskov said during a call with reporters.
A Treasury official indicated that “the President has emphasized the strategic importance of this diesel deal to ensure maximum flexibility for the United States,” and that the department “will explore options to support this deal” at his request.
“Though the U.S. leads in oil production, we’re still importing diesel from Russia while our domestic refineries are facing regulatory challenges that have put many out of business,” Isaac pointed out. “We ought to be exporting more American diesel instead of relying on Russian sources.”
“In general, our issue isn’t about lacking products; rather, it’s a pricing challenge,” Pyziur asserted.
He also mentioned that there’s a global shortfall of about 1.5 million barrels of diesel daily, largely due to damage caused by Iranian attacks on refineries in the Middle East, as well as disruptions from Ukraine’s conflict impacting Russia’s export capabilities.
Tom Kloza, an energy adviser at Gulf Oil, described the shipment as “a trifle,” remarking that it constitutes approximately 15 minutes’ worth of global fuel needs.
“This deal for Russian diesel imports isn’t likely to have much impact on diesel pricing in the U.S.,” observed Steve Milloy, a senior policy fellow at the Energy and Environment Legal Institute, who previously served on Trump’s EPA transition team. “The gap is significant, but the imports are relatively small.”
Currently, East Coast diesel and heating oil stocks are around 20 million barrels, which is about 10 million barrels below the five-year average, according to Pyziur.
Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, expressed concerns regarding the purchasing power of LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) grants as fuel prices keep soaring.
As part of the agreement, Russia lifted its previously imposed ban on its diesel exports, per Reuters.
The Treasury Department’s license permits Russian diesel imports into the U.S. until April 7, 2027, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has claimed that the country might return its diesel export levels to the usual range of three to 3.5 million tons a month by year’s end, as reported by Reuters.
