Trump’s Plan to Import Russian Diesel Stalls on the High Seas

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Several fuel tankers bound for the U.S. shifted course following difficulties finding buyers willing to accept the cargoes. | World News

Trump saw Russian diesel as a way to lower sky-high prices for the fuel, which contributed to rising consumer costs in the U.S. in the run-up to the midterm elections. But the diverted ships show U.S. oil companies are reluctant to handle the cargoes of Russian diesel because of the potential legal and reputational consequences, industry executives and lobbyists said.

“There are political, compliance and enforcement challenges,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, a senior analyst at maritime intelligence firm Windward.

Trump reached the deal after a “highly successful discussion” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he said in an Oct. 9 post on Truth Social. Trump said Moscow agreed to “immediately” supply diesel to the U.S. and global markets.

Moscow partially restored diesel exports that it halted this summer after a campaign of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries. A month after Trump’s post, Russia is selling diesel again to the Middle East, North Africa and South America—but the plan to supply the U.S. with the fuel has stalled.

The Agioi Fanendes, a tanker loaded with 300,000 barrels of Russian diesel, slowed down near the U.S. East Coast on Monday and started loitering in a zigzag pattern. The ship, which had initially listed its destination as New York, was the latest of several vessels bearing Russian fuel to shift course or change their discharge plans midjourney. Ship-tracking service Kpler lists its new destination as South America.

Three other diesel tankers turned away last week. Two are sailing to Brazil, while a third pivoted from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and has now arrived in Egypt, according to Kpler. All of those ships had initially listed their destinations as Atlantic Coast—shorthand for the U.S.—when they left the Russian port of Primorsk last month.

No Russian diesel has been imported to the U.S. since April 2022, according to U.S. government data.

U.S. oil companies aren’t short of diesel: domestic refiners already make more…

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