Diesel prices are surging with supply at a level not seen since the 1950s and a ban on Russian refined products will lead to greater competition for the fuel.
www.cnbc.com
“The Jones Act requires all cargo transported between U.S. ports be carried on ships that are U.S. flagged and built, and mostly owned and crewed by Americans,” said Captain Adil Ashiq, United States Western region executive for MarineTraffic.
According to MarineTraffic, the 55 Jones Act tankers are being used. One way to add more supply quickly is for the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily waive the act for foreign vessels to move the fuel.
As a result of the small quantity of U.S.-owned and operated tankers available for energy transport, the price to book a Jones Act tanker is about double that of a foreign-flagged tanker. For example, a Jones Act tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of diesel from Houston to Boston costs approximately 16 cents per gallon. If the Jones Act was waived, a foreign flag tanker carrying the same amount of fuel and heading to the identical location is estimated to cost half, 8 cents per gallon. This 8-cent per gallon difference translates into a $1 million savings per tanker. This is one of the reasons why energy traders favor using foreign flag tankers versus Jones Act tankers.
Traders are diverting tankers away from Europe to the U.S. because the price of U.S. diesel is now higher than in Europe so they can make a larger profit.