President Donald Trump’s deal with Russia to supply over 4 million tons of diesel to the global market is facing skepticism from energy experts and bipartisan lawmakers.
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump’s newly announced deal with Russia to supply more than four million tons of diesel to the global market may do little to address surging prices at the pump, according to energy experts.
In announcing the deal last week, Trump said it would help bring down diesel prices.
“Between our TOTAL CONTROL of the Strait of Hormuz, and this great announcement on Russian Energy, Diesel Prices for Americans and, indeed, the World, will be COMING DOWN, IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND FAST!” the post read in part.
But energy experts are skeptical about the deal’s impact on consumers.
“We’re already seeing diesel prices are up about three cents a gallon [Monday] in the futures market, because they simply don’t believe that Russia is there to export diesel in any quantities that are going to make a difference,” Andrew Lipow, an energy markets analyst and president at Lipow Oil Associates, said.
Lipow said that the deal from Russia would equate to just over a day’s worth of global diesel demand and roughly a week’s worth of U.S. demand.
Rising energy prices, Lipow said, come from global supply constraints caused by energy bottlenecks from the war in Iran and ongoing attacks between Russia and Ukraine, crippling refineries that process oil into diesel.
On Sunday, Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine had reached an “energy ceasefire.”
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” the post read.
But Lipow said the ceasefire appears to be in name only. Over the weekend, attacks between the two sides continued, including a Russian strike on a power plant in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the ceasefire was news to him but expressed willingness to abide by it, though he questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready to do the same.
The president’s deal has also drawn criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan group called on the administration to reconsider the deal, warning the agreement violates a 2022 law banning all Russian energy imports.
Lawmakers argued the deal could help Russia fund its ongoing war in Ukraine and demanded that the administration justify the agreement before seeking congressional approval.
“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” a statement from the lawmakers read in part. “The Administration must immediately reverse course.”
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