The American “diesel blackmail weapon” is now a nuisance for refuelers

The price of Brent oil quality, which had been elevated for a long time, moved at $102 per barrel on Friday. In the background, not only the situation in the Middle East, but also the US’s consideration of the diesel export ban are influencing.

“This is very exceptional from a European perspective, that the United States is using such a diesel blackmail weapon. We tried to get rid of our dependence on Russia for diesel, and we have succeeded, and now the United States is the largest single producer of diesel in Europe and Britain,” commented Kauppalehti’s Brussels correspondent in Talousaaamu Karvala of Crete.

On Friday, the G7 countries announced that they had agreed that one hundred million barrels of fuel would be released to the market from emergency stocks. Karvala sees this above all as a political message towards the United States.

“Already in the spring, it was decided to release four hundred million barrels from the warehouses. This is more of a transatlantic response that we are ready to listen to Trump’s election concerns,” Karvala said.

According to Karvala, the practical effects remain to be seen.

“Especially the commission has very little influence on what OPEC and the refineries decide.”