Chevron CEO Mike Wirth warned Wednesday it would be "unwise" of the US to impose a ban on diesel exports, saying such a policy could actually make the global energy crisis worse.
Page F112From§Eachthe noon edition — 7 October 2026
Diesel relief rule dies by executive order; Chevron's own CEO says the backup plan would make prices worse.
As it ran on the front
The federal rule keeping tax-exempt red-dyed diesel off the public road is dead, retired this week by executive order. Born some administrative decade back, the sort of fix renewed so quietly this desk could not find the year it was first signed, it is survived by an industry its own trade group is warning not to bother with: the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers told truck stops this week there is "limited upside" to selling the fuel the order just freed up — polite trade-group malarkey for not worth the risk.
Preceded in death by three weeks of smaller fixes tried first, each one changing the shape of the one before it. On September 17, the Transportation Department let drivers hauling gas and diesel work up to sixteen hours instead of the usual limit, citing fuel costs already elevated by the war with Iran. Five days later, on September 22, the president floated something bigger: a 90-day ban on diesel exports. Wright's verdict did not retire the idea. On October 1, the administration used the same threat on two allies, warning Germany and France it would restrict U.S. diesel exports unless they tapped their own emergency reserves first.…
…(cont) By this week, the administration had set the export ban aside again and lifted the exemption rule instead. CBS News reported the executive order expanding use of red-dyed diesel; the experts it asked said the change would have limited impact on the farmers and truckers it is sold to help. The Hill reported truck stops being warned, in that same stretch, that there is limited upside to selling the fuel at all. And on Wednesday, Chevron's chief executive, Mike Wirth, said the export ban the administration keeps floating — the one Wright called blunt, the one used as leverage on two allies — would be unwise, and could make the energy crisis it is supposed to fix worse instead.
A rule died this week to lower a price. The industry it died for says don't bother. The idea waiting behind it, the oil executive who would have to live with it says, would make things worse. In lieu of flowers, ask your representative for a diesel price built on supply, not on an executive order rewritten every few weeks.
“They killed the only rule keeping untaxed diesel off the road and called it relief, then their own gas-station lobby turned around and told truck stops don't bother selling the stuff. Same week the guy who actually ships the fuel, Chevron's CEO, said their backup plan — the export ban — would jack prices up worse than the war did. That's not a price fix, that's a shell game with your truck's tank as the shell.”
“Look, the order gives truckers and farmers more flexibility at the pump, that's just common-sense deregulation — did I say deregulation? I mean targeted relief. And sure, Secretary Wright called the export ban a blunt tool, but floating it to Germany and France isn't a ban, it's leverage, it's — okay, it's basically the same thing, forget I said that.”
Earlier in this story
- White House lifts diesel tax-exemption rule, experts say won't lower the prices it was sold to fix By Mort · the coffee break edition, 7 October 2026
- Fuel industry warns against red-dye diesel fraud days after Trump legalizes it By Mort · the milkman edition, 7 October 2026
- Trump dyes diesel exempt without Congress, then floats a gas tax cut only Congress can grant. By Ruth · the supper edition, 6 October 2026
- White House expands red-dye diesel tax break onto equipment already exempt, calls it relief from record prices By Ruth · the early bird edition, 6 October 2026
- Hegseth vows no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, then opens Pentagon's new Office of Religious Affairs By Chip · the matinee edition, 3 October 2026
- Officials meet at Camp David to find a path forward; Tehran's leads out of the nonproliferation treaty By Lou · the noon edition, 3 October 2026
The receipts
Truck stops were warned by industry groups against selling red-dyed diesel, saying there is “limited upside” to its sale following reported record-high diesel prices across the U.S. “The White House appears to be trying to encourage the supply chain to move toward selling dyed fuel in non-traditional ways,”
Experts say the new executive order will have a limited impact on farmers and truckers who rely on diesel.
· Trump administration allows truck drivers hauling gas, diesel to work longer hours from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Critics Warn Trump-Backed Diesel Export Ban Could Further Drive US Economy Into the Ground from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump eyes diesel export ban from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Wright throws cold water on diesel export ban from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump admin threatens diesel export ban unless Germany, France tap reserves: report from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.