Donald Trump has reached an agreement with Russia on diesel fuel supplies in an effort to curb rising energy prices in the United States, the Financial Times reported. According to the newspaper, the White House hopes the arrangement will help ease fuel-price pressure ahead of the November congressional elections.
Against the backdrop of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, oil and diesel prices have risen, hurting both Trump personally and the Republican Party, the report said. Anthony Yuen, head of energy strategy at Citigroup, pointed to the electoral map, noting that districts with strong Republican support tend to consume more diesel fuel.
Wei Li of BNP Paribas Securities China linked a drop in US heating-oil futures to optimism surrounding the understandings reached with Moscow. In his view, those contracts serve as an important benchmark for diesel pricing in the American market.
The deal has drawn criticism in the European Union. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said this is not the time to ease pressure on Russia and that Europe will not do so. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called that position hypocritical.
In July, Europe’s fuel inventories fell to their lowest level since 2022 amid reduced supplies from the Middle East. In the US, diesel reached a record $6.23 a gallon in September, while gasoline rose to $4.32. At that point, Trump demanded that European countries immediately release additional diesel reserves, warning that otherwise he would ban its export from the US.
In early October, the G7 countries and the International Energy Agency decided to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel fuel onto the market in an attempt to contain rising petroleum product prices.
