Are Czechs filling up with costly diesel imported from the U.S. that's produced from cheap Russian crude oil? No, that's not true: The diesel imported into the Czech Republic by the Czech state-controlled fuel distributor CEPRO, which is also in charge of the state emergency reserves, is produced in Louisiana. U.S. sanctions currently forbid U.S. refineries and importers from importing Russian energy products, including oil.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on November 10, 2023, with the caption (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff):
There is no need to add anything. We run on cheap Russian diesel, bought expensively from the USA...
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Nov 13 08:19:06 2023 UTC)
The diesel imported from the U.S. is produced in Louisiana and does not come from Russian crude oil sources, Cepro spokesman Marek Roll told Lead Stories by phone on November 13, 2023. Cepro uses a Polish intermediary to buy the product at a competitive price that includes transportation costs, Roll added.
Russian crude oil imports to the U.S. were banned following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, so the Louisiana-based refinery where Cepro buys its diesel supplies from could not use cheaper Russian crude oil to refine its diesel fuels.
State-controlled company Cepro AS began importing diesel from the United States in March 2023 to diversify supply sources and reduce dependence on Russian imports, according to Czech media reports on March 6, 2023. Cepro had been importing fuel mainly from Germany, Austria and Poland before it added a U.S. source.
The state-owned Cepro is a large operator of petrol and diesel storage facilities and also has a large share in the distribution, transport and wholesale selling of fuels. The company is in charge of the Czech Republic's emergency reserves.
Countries such as India have been buying Russian oil in quantity to convert it into products that can then be sold elsewhere, including the U.S. and the E.U. The U.S. banned Russian crude oil in March 2022, as well the E.U., but the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were exempted from the ban because the landlocked countries are dependent on the Russian commodity.
The part of the exemption that also allows imports of diesel made from Russian crude from countries like Slovakia is set to expire in December 2023.
