The Trump administration is drawing up a 90-day ban on diesel exports, according to five people familiar with the discussions on Wednesday. Despite differences within the government and the oil industry, the government hopes to use this to lower energy prices and ease the pressure faced by the Republican Party before the midterm elections. The legal process for the ban is still being finalized. US fuel producers are opposed to this, warning that the short-term benefits will be offset by higher fuel prices in the future. Once diesel exports are stopped, this will be the first time the US has imposed restrictions on energy exports since the Obama administration lifted the decades-long ban on crude oil exports in 2015. An oil industry executive who has discussed the ban with senior White House officials said that with less than seven weeks left until the intense midterm elections, high energy prices continue to plague Republican candidates. Trump is inclined to announce the ban before the end of this week, and sees all subsequent negative reactions as “issues that only need to be addressed in December.”

The Trump administration is drawing up a 90-day ban on diesel exports, according to five people familiar with the discussions on Wednesday. Despite differences within the government and the oil industry, the government hopes to use this to lower energy prices and ease the pressure faced by the Republican Party before the midterm elections. The legal process for the ban is still being finalized. US fuel producers are opposed to this, warning that the short-term benefits will be offset by higher fuel prices in the future. Once diesel exports are stopped, this will be the first time the US has imposed restrictions on energy exports since the Obama administration lifted the decades-long ban on crude oil exports in 2015. An oil industry executive who has discussed the ban with senior White House officials said that with less than seven weeks left until the intense midterm elections, high energy prices continue to plague Republican candidates. Trump is inclined to announce the ban before the end of this week, and sees all subsequent negative reactions as “issues that only need to be addressed in December.”