White House Expected to Extend Jones Act Waiver
The White House is expected to extend the Jones Act waiver for up to 90 days as early as Friday to help blunt fuel price pressures tied to the Iran conflict, according to two sources familiar with the decision.
The move would temporarily ease requirements that goods transported between U.S. ports be carried on American-built and American-crewed vessels, allowing foreign-flagged ships to move fuel and other key commodities more freely as the administration seeks to contain energy market disruptions from the war and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
A White House official told Reuters the extension is under consideration, but declined to comment on the length and timing of any announcement.
A foreign-flagged tanker delivered a load of crude oil from Texas to a U.S. refinery on Thursday under the temporary waiver.
The Malta-flagged HTM Warrior loaded light, sweet Bakken crude from refiner Phillips 66's terminal in Beaumont, Texas, in early April and discharged the cargo at Monroe Energy's Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania last week, Kpler and LSEG ship tracking data showed.
Trump waived Jones Act limitations for 60 days starting March 17, hoping the move would help tame the surge in fuel prices caused by the Iran war by increasing shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast to other coastal markets in the country.
(Reuters)
