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Trump Admin Prepping Diesel Export Ban, Despite Energy Secretary Warning It Could Make Things Worse
Mediaite ^ | September 23, 2026 | Alex Griffing

Posted on 09/23/2026 10:47:32 AM PDT by Miami Rebel

President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly preparing to institute a 90-day ban on diesel exports amid soaring prices, despite Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying such a move would not bring down prices. Wright, in fact, warned a ban could actually make the situation worse in the long run.

Politico reported on the upcoming ban on Wednesday, citing “five people familiar with the discussions” inside the administration.

“The blunt tool ​of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” Reuters reported Wright saying on Wednesday while at an event hosted by the Economist in New York.

“If you can’t ⁠export the diesel that comes out of our refineries, you run out of places to store it, and you have to reduce US refining, which would ​put upward pressure on gasoline prices and jet fuel prices,” Wright added, explaining his thinking. Wright is the former CEO of Liberty Energy, an offshore oilservices company he founded.

Diesel prices have hit a record high in the United States as Trump’s war in Iran has dragged on and caused global energy shocks. The average diesel price per gallon in the U.S. was $6.52 on Wednesday, which is up a whopping 76% year over year, reports AAA.

Politico noted that the “legal process” on the export ban is still in the works, adding that the move “has created splits inside the administration and with the oil industry, which has warned that any short-term benefit would be outweighed by higher fuel prices in the future. Any halt to shipments would be the first restriction on U.S. energy exports since the Obama administration lifted a decades-old ban on oil exports in 2015.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: diesel
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To: Dacula

“The US does not have the refining capacity.
The demand outweighs our capacity. We need to build more refineries. The Eco-Nuts won’t let us do it.”

Bro the USA exports our surplus where have you been.

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/diesel-fuel/where-our-diesel-comes-from.php

We produce more per year total than we use catch up my guy.


61 posted on 09/23/2026 2:16:57 PM PDT by GenXPolymath
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To: Mr. Blond

Right. Sell that to the northeast that relies on imported diesel due to the requirements and sheer cost to ship it there from the refineries. Between the lack of local refining, the Jones act and the sheer pipeline bottleneck it would create what could go wrong?

It’s cheaper for them to import diesel. Well, until you push the global price higher and that cost hits them. Whatever the surplus is sold at, count on the market for that diesel to skyrocket. Even if it went high enough to make it economical to ship for the gulf, there logistics still prevent it from being an option.


62 posted on 09/23/2026 2:28:39 PM PDT by MomentsofSanity
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To: Dacula

In 2025, the U.S. used about 375.3 million gallons of gasoline per day and produced about 397.4 million gallons per day.


63 posted on 09/23/2026 2:36:01 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: GenXPolymath

a few refineries have been shut down since that report ...


64 posted on 09/23/2026 2:41:21 PM PDT by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: central_va

Doesn’t matter. You can’t produce gas without producing diesel, jet fuel etc…. It’s part of the same process. Not done separately from each other. There would be no choice but to slow production of diesel which means less gas and less jet fuel plus whatever else is an offshoot of the refining process.


65 posted on 09/23/2026 2:45:58 PM PDT by MomentsofSanity
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To: MomentsofSanity

refineries must re-tool weeks ahead of time to vary the ratio of which refined products to produce. It is a guess and they don’t always guess right. More diesel = less gasoline, etc. so it’s not like they all get reduced.


66 posted on 09/23/2026 2:52:25 PM PDT by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: MomentsofSanity

In 2025, the U.S. consumed about 2.94 million barrels per day of diesel fuel, while refineries produced approximately 1.76 billion barrels of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel annually, averaging about 4.82 million barrels per day. This indicates that production exceeded consumption during that year


67 posted on 09/23/2026 3:05:41 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: central_va

Did you read what you posted? That’s exactly what I’m saying. Production far exceeds consumption. It has to be scaled back which impacts everything.

Use 2.93. Produce 4.92. Thank you for reinforcing my point. That’s higher than current numbers but says the same thing I am.


68 posted on 09/23/2026 3:14:32 PM PDT by MomentsofSanity
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To: MomentsofSanity

I don’t get it.


69 posted on 09/23/2026 3:21:26 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: central_va

Read the whole thread. You can’t just stop producing diesel and keep gas at the same level of production. You also can’t store the excess diesel as it would represent hundreds of thousands of rail cars sitting idle. So diesel production goes down. So does gas. Price goes up as a result for gas right away and diesel shortly after.

Also diesel isn’t really shipped to the north east for several reason. They import. So their diesel cost shoots up. Same with jet fuel. Heating oil. Everything.


70 posted on 09/23/2026 3:28:18 PM PDT by MomentsofSanity
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To: MomentsofSanity

Shipping cost of diesel from overseas is more than shipping cost from the US Gulf States?

There should be plenty of tankers available. After the Ukies whacked over 200 tankers of various sizes (also includes some cargo ships) in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, in a few weeks, nobody really wants to be shipping petroleum products in those waters...

My wife was showing me a couple vids on Facebook by Filipino sailors whose ship got droned in the Black Sea, after leaving the Port of Novorossiysk, and then the ship that rescued them was attacked too. They got out ok, but their message was: “Don’t come here!”

Also, the Jones Act can be suspended in this instance.

Note that I’d be ok with export limits. A ban doesn’t make sense.


71 posted on 09/23/2026 4:40:13 PM PDT by Paul R. (Who else but Dolly Parton could go so far by being so genuine about being so fake?)
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To: Paul R.

Even with the current Jones Act waivers that are in place it’s still more expensive. The shippers aren’t just going to do it for less. They will go where the money is. Or you need to meet that money. The market is ridiculous right for shipping and the costs are high.


72 posted on 09/23/2026 5:01:09 PM PDT by MomentsofSanity
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To: Dacula

I remember when you’d go to the grocery store, they’d put your groceries in a nice paper bag. Biodegradable. Then the eco-nut lobby came in, and within a few years, it’s now all plastic. Not biodegradable. It our oceans, landfills, bodies...everywhere. Everything the left touches turns to crap....


73 posted on 09/24/2026 4:14:31 AM PDT by nikos1121
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To: Socon-Econ

Yes that is part of it, California shut down 4 in the last year.


74 posted on 09/24/2026 6:12:04 AM PDT by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: Miami Rebel

Relax. Bessent says he's looking at the "feasibility" of the export ban. Why? Because the point missed by everyone is if we stop exporting it, where do we store it?

We'll end up lowering production, which will end up raising the price. https://t.co/jtWiNw7uS1— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) September 22, 2026


75 posted on 09/24/2026 6:26:06 AM PDT by dynoman (Objectivity is the essence of intelligence. - Marilyn vos Savant)
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To: nikos1121

I remember when you’d go to the grocery store, they’d put your groceries in a nice paper bag. Biodegradable. Then the eco-nut lobby came in, and within a few years, it’s now all plastic. Not biodegradable. It our oceans, landfills, bodies...everywhere. Everything the left touches turns to crap....


Plus 100


76 posted on 09/24/2026 7:48:46 AM PDT by Dacula
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