Washington should immediately restrict the movement of diesel and other refined-fuel exports, then phase in a lasting ban while building the domestic storage, transportation, and maritime infrastructure America needs to keep its energy advantage at home. Every American who buys groceries, ships goods, heats a home, or runs a business has a stake in this fight. American farmers, truckers, builders, and maritime operators need dependable fuel at prices that let them compete.
The United States was the world’s largest crude oil producer in 2025, as noted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), yet we export fuel while importing oil to meet domestic demand. It currently lies third in total exports, at just over 4 million barrels a day, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Our production and refining capacity should protect American businesses from foreign supply shocks. Instead, domestic businesses compete with overseas buyers for American fuel. Washington effectively tells them that international markets come first.
Don’t blame refineries and oil companies. They are doing what the market rewards: selling where they can earn the most. But maximizing export revenues is not the same as strengthening the American economy.
Washington has confused the two, ignoring the costs paid by workers, businesses, and consumers. The EIA reported that in 2025, the United States exported an average of four million barrels of crude oil and 2.4 million barrels of refined products daily. Meanwhile, Americans consumed about 20.6 million barrels of petroleum per day, while domestic production averaged approximately 13.6 million barrels daily.
Let those numbers sink in. America exports millions of barrels daily while importing oil to cover the gap between production and consumption. Keeping more domestic supply here could reduce dependence on foreign oil, including supplies from unstable regions such as the Persian Gulf.
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