U.S. Diesel at $6.30 a Gallon as First Russian Cargo Sets Sail for New York

The first tanker shipping diesel out of Russia to the U.S. departed from the Russian Baltic Sea port of Primorsk early on Friday local time and is en route to New York where it is expected to arrive on November 7, shipping data show. The medium-sized oil tanker Agioi Fanendes, flying the flag of Malta, loaded about 40,000 metric tons, or about 300,000 barrels, of ultra-low sulfur diesel ULSD on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The deal was one of President Trump's attempts to lower the soaring diesel prices in the United States ahead of the mid-term elections on November 3. The first Russian shipment will not arrive ahead of the elections. But even if it did, the volumes are so low that they can barely budge the tight global diesel market, analysts say.