A tanker carrying Russian diesel is en route to New York after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Moscow in early October, according to data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler.
The Malta-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes was located off Helsinki on Friday and was signalling “New York” as its destination via its AIS transponder.
It loaded nearly 300,000 barrels of diesel at the Russian oil terminal of Primorsk, according to Kpler. Separate shipping data from LSEG put the cargo at 40,000 tonnes of ultra-low-sulphur diesel.
It left Primorsk overnight on 22–23 October and is expected to arrive on the US East Coast around 7 November, four days after the US midterm elections.
The shipment would mark the first US import of Russian oil or petroleum products since former President Joe Biden announced a ban in 2022, according to Reuters. The buyer and seller were not immediately known.
On Wednesday, Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees energy policy, as saying the first shipment of Russian diesel bound for the United States would depart the following day. He said more shipments would follow as Russian and US companies worked out contracts for the deliveries.
On 9 October, Trump announced an agreement between Washington and Moscow for the delivery of Russian diesel to the US and global markets, temporarily easing US sanctions on Russian diesel. Russia also agreed to lift its own ban on diesel exports.
Trump said Russia would immediately supply 300,000 tonnes, followed by 500,000 tonnes in November and 1 million tonnes “immediately thereafter”.
The measure was seen as an attempt to lower fuel prices for American consumers ahead of the US midterm elections. It drew sharp criticism from Ukraine and its allies, including members of Trump’s Republican Party.
The move also comes after Russian diesel exports shifted mainly to Brazil, Turkey and African countries following the EU’s embargo on Russian petroleum products in February 2023.