Against the background of numerous talks that the US is about to replace Russian gas in Western Europe with its liquefied natural gas (LNG), this news from Bloomberg sounds truly sensational. According to the agency, the growth of imports of Russian diesel fuel to the United States has reached a historic high: over the past three months, the same amount of fuel has been supplied as over the past three years.
Eugene Bai
In February, 1.55 million barrels of Russian diesel will be delivered to the other side of the Atlantic, accounting for 22 percent of all US imports of this type of fuel.
The US East Coast and especially New England have been extremely vulnerable this winter with unusually hard frosts and record snowfalls. Diesel fuel is used for electric generators and has recently been in particular demand due to the sharp rise in natural gas prices. Meanwhile, stockpiles of diesel fuel, which the local authorities have bet on, have fallen to their lowest level since 2014.
Traditional U.S. diesel suppliers—Western Europe and Canada fail to ramp up diesel exports—The Old Continent is experiencing an even greater shortage of diesel than America, and Canada, which used to supply its southern neighbor, closed a major refinery in the east after the pandemic began country.
As a result, Russia becomes the main supplier of diesel to the American continent. According to Clay Siegl, managing director of Vortexa in Houston, "Russia has the best conditions for diesel supplies than any other supplier in Europe due to its access to cheap natural gas." But he, too, is surprised that such a significant amount of fuel has been flowing onto the US East Coast in recent months.
Last November, four Russian tankers unloaded about 2 million barrels of diesel fuel in the ports of New York, New Haven and Connecticut. At this time, fuel imports from Europe in October were the lowest in 9 months.
The United States has long been increasing oil imports from Russia. Interest in Russian carbons intensified after Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela, from which it previously received heavy fuel oil. In recent years, the US has received significant amounts of fuel oil from Russia and blended it with its own light oil. Now it's the turn of diesel fuel. As Alexander Frolov, deputy director of the Russian National Energy Institute, tells Vzglyad, “Now Russia ranks second or third, depending on the month, in terms of supplies of oil and petroleum products to the United States.”
As a result, Bloomberg draws a conclusion that US and Western European politicians are unlikely to like. "The growing share of imports from Russia is another illustration of the critical role this country plays in supplying the world with oil." And, let us note, this recognition comes at the moment of the greatest tension in Russia's relations with the collective West in connection with the conflict over Ukraine and the continuing US pressure on Germany in order to stop Nord Stream 2.
Wonderful are thy works, oh, Lord!