Chevron CEO calls a US diesel export ban unwise, with diesel futures at more than twice the price of crude

Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth said on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 that it would be "unwise" for the Trump administration to ban US diesel exports, telling CNBC that export bans take supply off the global market and risk making shortages worse. New York Harbor diesel futures did not react in the first minute after CNBC's report reached the MoveSurge news feed at 08:21:08 UTC (4:21 a.m. ET), slipping 0.07% to $4.6611 a gallon, and were 0.54% higher at $4.6896 fifteen minutes later; WTI crude gained 0.15% to $89.51 over the same window.

Wirth's case against a ban

In the interview on Squawk Box Europe, Wirth argued that restricting exports removes supply from the world market at the moment it is needed, that a ban would make allies and partners question whether the United States can be relied on for fuel in a crisis, and that the US is tied to world markets closely enough that a ban might fail to lower prices for American drivers and truckers. A day earlier he had said oil and fuel supply buffers were thinning as the Middle East conflict continued.

The White House has already stepped back from the idea once. Trump said on September 22 that he had argued internally for a ban and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was studying whether a full or partial ban was practical, but the White House denied the next day that it was considering one. On October 2 the Group of Seven agreed to release emergency stocks and to refrain from export restrictions on energy among its members.

Diesel costs more than twice as much as crude

The chart below converts the diesel futures price into barrels. At $4.6896 a gallon, New York Harbor diesel was worth about $196.96 a barrel at 08:35 UTC, against $89.51 for WTI crude in the same minute, a difference of about $107.45. That gap, known as the diesel crack spread, approximates a refiner's gross margin on each barrel of diesel it produces, and a gap that wide shows how much tighter the world is in diesel than in crude. When the industry warned in September that a ban would raise fuel prices, its point was that refiners make diesel, gasoline and jet fuel from the same barrel, so a refiner that cannot sell its diesel abroad has a reason to process less crude in total, which cuts gasoline and jet output as well.

Wirth's comments produced no visible move in the first minute, and diesel's gain over the following fifteen minutes was more than three times crude's.

How the diesel export ban debate unfolded

1. September 22, 2026: Trump says he has advocated internally for a ban on US diesel exports; Bessent says the administration is examining whether a full or partial ban is feasible.
2. September 23, 2026: the oil industry warns that a ban would raise fuel prices, and the White House denies that it is considering one.
3. October 2, 2026: G7 countries agree to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude through the International Energy Agency over four months, with a large diesel release in the first 20 days, and pledge to refrain from energy export restrictions.
4. October 6, 2026: Wirth says oil and fuel supply buffers are thinning as the Middle East conflict continues.
5. October 7, 2026: Wirth tells CNBC a diesel export ban would be unwise.