"Trump's Russian Diesel Deal Covers Just 10 Days of U.S. Demand"

[Financial News]  

An analysis has found that, although U.S. President Donald Trump boasted that he had secured an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume Russian diesel exports, it would in fact do little to help solve the U.S. diesel shortage.
The volume would not be enough to significantly bring down the sky-high diesel prices faced by truck drivers and farmers. Analysts said the amount of diesel Russia has agreed to supply is only a tiny fraction of U.S. and global demand, and would have little effect on the market.
In a post on his Truth Social account on the 9th, President Trump said Russia had agreed to immediately release 300,000 metric tons of diesel onto the global market. The Kremlin, Russia’s presidential palace, also said Russia had agreed to initially export about 2.24 million barrels of diesel.
According to S&P Global Platts, one metric ton of diesel is about 7.45 barrels.
According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) statistics, U.S. diesel demand reached 3.65 million barrels per day in the week ending on the 2nd. By that measure, the amount of diesel Russia initially agreed to release is only about 2% of total U.S. demand. Compared with global daily diesel demand of more than 28 million barrels, it is far below 1%.
Neil Atkinson, former head of the oil industry and markets division at the International Energy Agency (IEA), told CNBC on the 12th, “It’s a very small amount—not even enough to scratch an itch.”
Russia will export 500,000 metric tons (3.73 million barrels) of diesel next month, followed immediately by 1 million metric tons (7.45 million barrels). Trump has said Russia plans to export an additional 3 million metric tons (22.35 million barrels) after that, depending on domestic refining conditions.
In an analysis on the 12th, Goldman Sachs forecast that, based on the amount of diesel Russia plans to export this month and next, wholesale diesel prices on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Europe would fall by just $1 to $2 per barrel.
Analysts also found that even if Russia fully honors its commitment and exports all 4.8 million metric tons (35.76 million barrels), as Trump assured it would, that would amount to only about 10 days of U.S. demand and just over one day of global demand.

[email protected] Song Gyeong-jae Reporter