In January, Russian diesel exports to the United States hit their highest level in three years as cold weather boosted demand for heating and power in the Northeast.
About 1.55 million barrels of diesel are currently transported from Russia to the United States, according to Bloomberg. The shipment should arrive by the end of this month.
The demand for diesel supplies from Russia increased as distillate fuel inventories on the US East Coast have fallen to their lowest level in eight years, while demand has surged to its highest level since 2018.
Currently, the US has not so many alternatives to Russian diesel fuel. Thus, Canada shut down refineries in the eastern part of the country at the very beginning of the pandemic. Europe, another fuel supplier to the US, is grappling with its own energy problems and is unable to save a few million barrels for diesel fuel exports.
Higher fuel demand in the US influenced the latest price changes in West Texas Intermediate crude. Last week, WTI topped $92 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
Such a rise was driven by fears that another cold snap in Texas could hit oil production, thus exacerbating the already tight global supply. An explosion on an oil platform near the Nigerian coast also pushed oil prices higher. According to some reports, the storage vessel had around 2 million barrels of oil.
