Hey, Trump does something positive for the people of California!
I wonder if he knows?
Now will at-the-pump prices reflect new oil deliveries?
In the long run, probably not--but that's more due to California's regulation and the price of oil--which is the biggest driver of gas prices.
A century ago, Congress passed a maritime law in the wake of World War I that was seen as essential for national defense and commerce.
But the old law created difficulties for coastal states like California: It has limited the type of ships that can bring in needed fuel.
Now, after the war in Iran sent gas prices soaring, the Trump administration has set the law aside — and the shift is opening new pathways for fuel to reach the Bay Area and elsewhere in California, including shipments from Gulf Coast refineries.
The 1920 law, called the Jones Act, prevents ships registered in foreign countries from transporting goods between U.S. ports. One of the ideas was to bolster commerce on American ships.
It has an outsize impact on California. The state has no pipelines bringing fuel in, leaving marine transport as one of the only import options. That relative isolation is one of several reasons California’s oil prices are higher than the rest of the nation’s.
Some experts expect little effect on prices.
“All of your gasoline prices — 40%, sometimes up to 50% — are based on the world market per-barrel cost,” William Doyle, a former member of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission under the Trump and Obama administrations, told NPR, speaking about fuel markets broadly. “It has nothing to do with the Jones Act.”
I wonder if he knows?
Now will at-the-pump prices reflect new oil deliveries?
In the long run, probably not--but that's more due to California's regulation and the price of oil--which is the biggest driver of gas prices.
A century ago, Congress passed a maritime law in the wake of World War I that was seen as essential for national defense and commerce.
But the old law created difficulties for coastal states like California: It has limited the type of ships that can bring in needed fuel.
Now, after the war in Iran sent gas prices soaring, the Trump administration has set the law aside — and the shift is opening new pathways for fuel to reach the Bay Area and elsewhere in California, including shipments from Gulf Coast refineries.
The 1920 law, called the Jones Act, prevents ships registered in foreign countries from transporting goods between U.S. ports. One of the ideas was to bolster commerce on American ships.
It has an outsize impact on California. The state has no pipelines bringing fuel in, leaving marine transport as one of the only import options. That relative isolation is one of several reasons California’s oil prices are higher than the rest of the nation’s.
Some experts expect little effect on prices.
“All of your gasoline prices — 40%, sometimes up to 50% — are based on the world market per-barrel cost,” William Doyle, a former member of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission under the Trump and Obama administrations, told NPR, speaking about fuel markets broadly. “It has nothing to do with the Jones Act.”
SX) and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) announced they have secured enough long-term shipper commitments to advance a proposed pipeline to supply fuel to Arizona and California.
