LAFAYETTE, La. — Diesel prices in Lafayette hit a record $6.05 a gallon Monday, and Gov. Jeff Landry wants Washington to respond with a 90-day ban on U.S. diesel exports. The state’s own oil and gas industry says that idea would backfire, a pushback detailed by The Advocate.
Unleaded gasoline in Lafayette also climbed to $4 a gallon Monday. Nationally, the average diesel price rose about 40 cents a gallon in a single week to $6.51 a gallon, more than $2.80 higher than this same day last year.
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What Landry Is Actually Proposing
Landry laid out his plan on social media, calling for a 90-day moratorium on U.S. diesel exports along with a permanent exemption for small refineries from rules requiring them to pay roughly $13 more per barrel of crude oil, a break he said covers refineries responsible for about 10% of the nation’s fuel supply. He put it plainly in a post on X: halting exports for three months would build up domestic supply and bring diesel prices down.
He made a similar case on CNBC, framing the export flow as a subsidy for foreign buyers at the expense of American drivers. “Right now a record amount of diesel is going to Europe and Americans are subsidizing Europe’s problems,” Landry said, adding that Europe has “done nothing to help America” with the wars in Ukraine and Iran that he blames for the price spike…