The White House ruled out a ban on U.S. diesel exports on Wednesday, walking back mixed signals from President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a day earlier as the national average diesel price topped $6.50 per gallon. Farm-state senators want export curbs, Maine's senators want an emergency reserve tapped, and industry groups warn a ban would only tighten fuel supply further.
The White House on Wednesday ruled out a ban on U.S. diesel exports, clarifying comments a day earlier from President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that appeared to leave the door open to restrictions as the average diesel price in America topped $6.50 per gallon. A White House official denied a report that the administration was preparing a 90-day export ban. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said nobody was considering a flat ban on shipments, adding that officials are instead discussing how to bring more diesel into the U.S. market while keeping gasoline and jet-fuel flows at their maximum.
Trump's comments sparked confusion
The clarification followed conflicting signals from the administration. Trump said Tuesday: "I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel." Bessent said separately that the administration was examining whether a full or partial ban would work given the country's refining capacity. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had said the week before that Washington would only weigh a ban if officials thought it might actually lower prices, and that it doesn't.
Farm-state and Maine senators push back
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has led calls among Senate Republicans for an outright ban, saying diesel at $6.57 in Iowa is hurting farmers' income. Separately, Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King asked Trump this week to release fuel from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, saying the high prices are straining household budgets. Maine households are paying about $675 more to fill a heating-oil tank than they did last year, the senators said, citing a state survey.
Industry warns of a bigger squeeze
The dispute plays out against a global fuel crunch tied to the wars in Iran and Ukraine, which have choked fuel supply out of the Middle East and Russia. The American Petroleum Institute says restricting exports would backfire, since the U.S. produces more diesel than it consumes and ships the surplus to Europe and Latin America, where the crunch is worse. API CEO Mike Sommers said restricting U.S. energy exports would compound the problem by exacerbating refining challenges and hurting consumers. Cutting off exports could also force refiners to cut runs, tightening supplies of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel both at home and abroad, the group warned.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said restricting U.S. supply would not change the globally set price of diesel, since an executive order cannot wall off a commodity traded worldwide. The U.S. is not short of diesel, he said — the world is, and a ban would trade one problem for a worse one.
Sources: Oilprice.com, Commodities & Futures News
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
