LOUISIANA’S GOVERNOR WANTS A 90-DAY BAN ON DIESEL EXPORTS — “AMERICANS ARE SUBSIDIZING EUROPE’S PROBLEMS” — DIESEL SITS $1.97 OVER GASOLINE

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry went on CNBC’s Squawk Box on September 21 to push the White House and Congress for a 90-day ban on U.S. diesel exports. “Putting in place a 90 day export ban certainly would create a supply of diesel in the country, which would cause diesel prices to fall,” he said. “Right now, a record amount of diesel is going to Europe, and Americans are subsidizing Europe’s problems.” He also wants the small refinery exemption made permanent.

The pain is real. The EIA’s weekly survey for September 14 put diesel at $6.285 a gallon and regular gasoline at $4.319. Diesel costs $1.97 more, and diesel moves every truck, tractor and freight train.

Now follow the money. Refiners ship diesel to Europe because Europe pays more. A ban does not make diesel cheaper to make. It makes it cheaper to sell here by making it illegal to sell there, and the refiner eats the difference. Refiners who earn less tend to refine less. The small refineries Landry wants to protect, about 10 percent of U.S. fuel output by his count, get a pass on the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. That is the relief plan: a wall on the export side and a rule break on the cost side. At the time of this writing, bitcoin was $85,997.