Three tankers carrying Russian diesel are en route to the United States, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Tuesday, as part of the deal between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin to ease sanctions in exchange for Moscow releasing diesel onto global markets. A fourth tanker was expected to set off on Wednesday, Novak added.
The three ships appear to be the Talisman, which is sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, the Leruo, sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the European Union, and the Agioi Fanendes, according to tracking platform Kpler, Reuters reported. They are carrying a collective 924,000 barrels of diesel, Kpler said, about a third of the United States transportation sector daily diesel consumption on the comparison Reuters published.
The scale needs context. The first cargo, aboard the Agioi Fanendes, loaded about 40,000 metric tonnes of ultra low sulphur diesel at Primorsk on October 22 and is tracked toward New York with arrival expected around November 7, after the November 3 midterm elections. Moscow has said Russian companies could supply as much as 500,000 metric tonnes of diesel in October. Even the full three tanker total is hours, not days, of national diesel use, so the price effect depends on the larger tranches that follow, not on these cargoes alone.
The politics are the cargo. The measure was presented as an attempt to lower fuel prices for American consumers ahead of the midterms and drew sharp criticism from Ukraine and its allies, Reuters reported. The United States energy secretary told CNBC on Tuesday that the administration may let more Russian diesel onto the market. A sanctioned vessel in the first wave makes the legal position on discharge, payment and insurance the story to watch on arrival, not the volume.