White House temporarily lifts oil shipping restrictions to lower prices

The White House is temporarily relaxing important restrictions on the transportation of oil, gas, and other commodities across the US in a bid to address the rising energy prices caused by its conflict with Iran.

The move to waive the Jones Act will allow foreign-flagged ships to transport the commodities between US ports for the next 60 days, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post on X, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

That could ease the flow of energy products throughout the country amid the US’ ongoing efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for sixty days,” Leavitt wrote on X.

The waiver was among several options under consideration by administration officials over the last week, as they scrambled for ways to alleviate a supply crunch that has pushed global oil prices sharply higher and raised the cost of gasoline in the US.

The Jones Act typically requires any goods transported between US ports to be carried by US-flagged ships. Energy analysts have projected that lifting that restriction for now could help somewhat ease prices in the short term, though there is little that the US can do to completely offset the loss of supply in the Middle East outside of fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli