Diesel Availability Plummets in St. Petersburg
Diesel availability at gas stations across St. Petersburg dropped below 40 percent in early November, falling sharply from roughly 70 percent in late October, The Moscow Times reported. Economist Janis Kluge analyzed tracking data from the service GdeBenz, which recorded the contraction over a span of just over a week. The drop mirrors supply crunches seen during a fuel crisis in late July, when filling stations introduced restrictions.
Drivers in St. Petersburg faced waits of up to 40 minutes at the pump. Private operators in the neighboring Leningrad region capped sales at 30 to 50 liters per vehicle. Shortages also hit the Sverdlovsk and Tambov regions, where some stations restricted or suspended diesel sales.
Rushed Shipments Strain Local Supply Chains
Kluge noted that Russia produces enough diesel for domestic consumption, pointing out that rushed export shipments through the Baltic port of Primorsk likely strained local supply chains. Operators at local stations offered a different explanation, telling Rosbalt that logistical changes and mandatory tank cleaning ahead of the winter diesel transition caused the bottlenecks.
The domestic squeeze coincides with a high-profile trade arrangement between Moscow and Washington. On October 9, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Vladimir Putin to ship more than 300,000 metric tons of Russian diesel to American and international markets in October, followed by 500,000 tons in November and an additional 1 million tons later.
Tankers Track Diesel Shipments Under Deal
Greenpeace Ukraine reported on October 29 that it had tracked five tankers carrying roughly 288,000 metric tons of Russian diesel under the deal, warning that some cargoes involved sanctioned vessels or materials that could breach European restrictions. Exporters have struggled to find U.S. buyers as American firms worry about legal exposure.
Kluge observed that the United States remains a net exporter of diesel, meaning the arrangement pits American and Russian producers against one another in global markets. The bilateral fuel pact followed a September 20 phone call in which Trump urged Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt drone strikes on Russian refineries, citing rising global prices driven by both refinery disruptions and restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
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