Trump Weighs Diesel Export Limits Amid Price Concerns

President Donald Trump is weighing a restriction on U.S. diesel exports as fuel prices climb, but he has warned that limiting shipments could push gasoline prices higher. The administration has not announced a decision, and Trump said Wednesday that officials continue to discuss the measure’s advantages and drawbacks. Trump said Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries were a larger cause of U.S. diesel-price pressure than the war in the Middle East. Energy Secretary Chris Wright offered a broader explanation, citing lost diesel exports from the Middle East and China, while saying some Middle Eastern supply was being restored. The available accounts do not establish how much each disruption has contributed to U.S. prices. Diesel prices have reached record levels in the United States. AAA data cited in one report put the nationwide average at $6.53 a gallon a week before October 1. Another account reported a figure of $6.38 a gallon that week; the underlying periods and measurement bases were not reconciled. The price increases are unfolding alongside tight global fuel supplies and disruptions to refinery output and exports.