Beacon brief: Monday, October 19, 2026

President Trump signed an executive order on October 16 waiving the sanctions, restrictions and duties of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act after certifying to Congress that the waiver is in the national interest, per the AP. The waived measures include a 500 percent duty increase on Russian goods and 100 percent tariffs on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian crude and gas for new purchases from October 18; the waiver has no set expiry and sanctions under earlier executive orders stay in force, per LawCommentary. Time reported the waiver lets Russian oil keep flowing to importers such as China and India. On October 18 Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said US-bound Russian diesel would move mainly on Aframax tankers and arrive 15 to 20 days after contracts are signed, without naming buyers.^1,2,3,4

Ukrainian drones set fire to the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot overnight into October 18, St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said, reporting one person killed and five injured in the city, per the AP and the Kyiv Independent. The terminal in the Port of St Petersburg handles about 12.5 million tons of petroleum products a year and has 32 tanks with about 442,000 cubic meters of storage, per UNITED24 Media, which reported the fire still burning at about 7:30 a.m. local time. Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed 1,015 drones over 15 regions, one of Kyiv's largest attacks of the war. Ukraine had struck the same terminal on July 4; the extent of storage damage and any effect on exports were not independently verified.^6,5,7

Two tankers were attacked inside the Gulf on October 16 off Saudi Arabia: UKMTO reported one hit by an unknown projectile about 68 nautical miles northeast of Al Jubail, with the crew evacuated, and another about 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail hit at 1922 GMT by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat, per Arab Times. All crew were reported safe and no attacker was named. On October 17 Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy said two tankers, each carrying about 2 million barrels of crude, struck mines on a route Tehran has not authorized and caught fire, per Iran International and Al Jazeera. No vessel names or independent confirmation of the mine claims were given.^8,9,10

Rajesh D'Silva, 42, a contract worker burned in the September 30 cold separator rupture in the coker hydrotreater at MRPL's Mangaluru refinery, died on October 17, bringing the toll to two dead among 12 people hurt, per The News Minute. MRPL has informed India's stock exchanges of a provisional financial impact of Rs 118.76 crore from the fire. The CPI(M) is demanding that the preliminary investigation report be published. No official finding on the cause has been released.¹¹