The Late Night Pour | Who Pays When Diesel Runs Short?
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| September 18, 2026 · Day 203 |
| The Late Night Pour |
Who Pays When Diesel Runs Short?
Day 203. October’s diesel supply is being squeezed now. The Saudi pipeline attack has disrupted crude deliveries that European refineries were counting on for next month. Oil that doesn’t arrive can’t become diesel. Those lost cargoes have to be replaced, or the refineries have to cut production.
 A Valero station in Lewisville, Texas, lists diesel as “Out.” Photo shared in September by u/Tintoverde on r/gasbuddy. |
Some late-September cargoes to European refiners were cancelled or pushed into November. Bloomberg reported Friday that Aramco told at least two European customers they’d receive no October crude under their term contracts. The disruption reaches into the fuel those refineries were supposed to produce in October.
Russia has restricted diesel exports to protect its domestic market. I want to know what an American restriction would accomplish: how much fuel would stay here, whether it could reach the businesses that need it, and how quickly. That deserves a public answer now.
Higher diesel prices take money out of every business buying the fuel. High profits for oil companies won’t pay a farmer’s fuel bill or a builder’s equipment costs. A trucking company buying 200 gallons pays another $200 for every dollar added to the pump price, before it earns another dollar moving freight.
— T.
The Dispatch
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ACCOUNTABILITY UN Mission Finds Grounds To Believe US Committed War Crimes In IranIndependent UN investigators reported Sep 17 that they found reasonable grounds to believe US forces committed war crimes in strikes on a school in Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd. Their report also finds crimes against humanity in Iran’s suppression of protests; it adds evidence for potential accountability proceedings, though the mission’s findings aren’t a binding court judgment. |
ARMS Washington Approves Possible $24.3B F-35 Sale To Saudi ArabiaThe State Department approved a possible sale of 48 F-35 fighters, 49 engines and support to Saudi Arabia on Sep 17. The department says the package would strengthen Saudi defense and cooperation with US forces without changing the regional military balance; approval opens the sale process, and doesn’t mean the aircraft have been delivered. |
BORROWING Fed Raises Rates To 3.75%–4% As Inflation PersistsThe Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point on Sep 16, its first increase since 2023, adding pressure to borrowing costs while households face expensive fuel and groceries. The vote was unanimous, 12–0; policymakers’ projections point to another increase this year, but aren’t a commitment to one. |
NORTHWEST Seattle Moves Shooting Response Under CARE, Keeps Prevention Funding In HSDMayor Katie Wilson’s Sep 15 gun-violence plan puts CARE in charge of coordinating shooting response, with a proposed transfer of more than $5M in annual community-intervention contracts from Human Services. More than $8M in prevention programs would remain with Human Services, while police add bicycle patrols in Belltown, North Aurora, Little Saigon and Rainier Beach. |
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