The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the United States is contemplating a ban on diesel exports as prices reached record highs due to reduced supplies from wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. The Globe's Emma Graney writes that Brent oil prices have dropped from over $108 to $99.25 recently, but they remain over 35 per cent higher than before the war in Iran started in February (all figures U.S.). Diesel markets are under strain, according to the International Energy Agency's September report. Gulf countries' net diesel and gas-oil exports averaged 390,000 barrels a day in August, just a quarter of prewar levels. That helped push U.S. retail diesel this week to its highest level in 2026, at $6.50 a gallon. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he backed a ban on diesel exports from U.S. refiners to help ease prices of the fuel. Mr. Trump said: "I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel." Rocketing diesel prices will have "major ramifications for diesel consumers and the global economy," the IEA said in a newsletter this week. It projects global oil supply will average 100.7 million barrels per day in 2026, a decrease of 5.7 million barrels from the previous year.