Trump weighs US diesel export ban as Bessent presses Europe to release reserves
The average UK diesel price at the pump has crossed £2 per litre for the first time, the RAC said, with the motoring body warning that price rises are “showing no signs of slowing, heaping more misery onto motorists.” Diesel averaged 200.01p a litre and petrol 174.71p a litre.
Filling a typical family car with diesel now costs £110, “almost £32 more than it was at the start of the US/Iran war,” RAC’s Simon Williams said. The cost of filling a typical petrol car has risen to £96.09, the RAC said, up £23.03 since February.
“This will be very challenging for households and companies that drive a lot of miles, from commuters, haulage and delivery firms, businesses with large fleets all the way through to sole traders,” Williams said.
The breach comes as US President Donald Trump weighs banning US diesel exports, a step that would direct more US diesel to the domestic market and ease prices for American motorists ahead of the November midterm elections, but would also be likely to push up prices elsewhere, including in the UK and the EU. Trump said he was considering the ban and backed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has urged European countries to release diesel supplies “immediately,” arguing that US farmers, truckers, and businesses “should not be left carrying the burden” as prices soar.
UK government ministers said they were working with both the US and the EU on the supply question. “We have a diverse and resilient supply. We continue to engage with our international partners and the UK fuel industry,” a government spokesperson said. The government has stressed that there is no cause for concern about potential diesel shortages, though prices are expected to rise further.
Over the past seven months, the Iran war has severely disrupted the production and transportation of wholesale oil and refined products from the region, causing prices to surge. Ukrainian attacks on Russian refiners have further constrained diesel supplies on the world market.
Diesel is harder to refine than gasoline, and the UK meets less than half of its diesel demand from domestic refining while producing more petrol than it consumes. The country relies on imports for just under half of the diesel it uses, with around 31% of those imports typically coming from the US and Belgium and the Netherlands jointly supplying more than a third.