US diesel futures plunge on report of 90-day export ban
Politico reports Washington is preparing to bar diesel exports for 90 days, sending US futures sharply lower and European futures sharply higher
Published
US diesel futures sink more than 7% to an intraday low after Politico reported the Trump administration is preparing a 90-day ban on diesel exports. European diesel futures move the opposite way, surging more than 7% to a session high as traders price in tighter supply outside the US.
No US official has confirmed the report.
The potential ban comes as tension between the US and Iran builds over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's security council has given Washington a four to five day deadline over the strait, which remains closed until its conditions are met. Tehran says the strait stays shut until the US agrees to a safe route worked out with Oman. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed the strait will stay open.
A diesel export ban would fit that pattern of escalating pressure rather than mark a change in policy direction. With Iran and the US in indirect negotiations over Hormuz access and the naval blockade there, a unilateral US restriction on diesel exports would signal Washington is holding its line rather than easing toward a diplomatic resolution. That keeps regional energy risk elevated without altering the basic standoff between the two sides.