California has new way of getting gasoline due to Jones Act waiver

An aerial view of the Port of Martinez, a port that specializes in handling of oil and chemical tankers due to its proximity to refineries, is seen in Martinez, Calif., Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

Stephen Lam

A century ago, Congress passed a maritime law in the wake of World War I that was seen as essential for national defence 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.

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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.

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Foreign-flagged ships have occasionally moved fuel between U.S. ports under narrow exemptions, such as for emergencies like hurricanes, but those exemptions have generally affected the East or Gulf coasts — not California. 

The waiver took effect on March 18 and will last until May 17 — though the Trump administration is now signaling it may keep the waiver in place longer, according to Axios. So far, nine shipments of gasoline and other petroleum products have been sent to California — five to Los Angeles and four, carrying gasoline and blending components, to the Port of Martinez, according to data from Vortexa, an energy analytics firm. Martinez is a major fuel distribution hub, with a refinery in the city.

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The next shipment will arrive in Martinez on April 29.

The ships, registered to the Marshall Islands, Denmark and Liberia, came from Houston and Washington, as well as a local shipment up the Carquinez Strait from nearby Rodeo/Selby. A typical medium range fuel tanker can carry up to 14.5 million gallons.

Nationally, 44 voyages by foreign-flagged vessels have carried petroleum products between U.S. ports, according to Vortexa. One shipment has gone out from California — specifically from the Carquinez Straight area —  to Houston. 

California energy officials said the waiver is bringing “incremental supply” to the state, adding that the details are confidential under the law. Analysts say the waiver’s main benefit is flexibility. A Jones Act waiver “addresses logistics, not supply,” one energy expert wrote in Forbes, noting that it allows fuel to move more easily between regions but does not increase overall production. 

Some experts expect little effect on prices.

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“All of your gasoline prices — 40%, sometimes up to 50% — are based on the world market per barrel cost,” William Doyle, a former commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission under the Trump and Obama administrations, told Ideastream Public Media, speaking about fuel markets broadly. “It has nothing to do with the Jones Act.”

Jones Act waivers are rare and typically reserved for emergencies. The federal government has suspended the law after major disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey and Maria.

The current waiver is aimed at easing supply disruptions tied to tensions in the Middle East. Oil prices have risen sharply due to throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global petroleum shipments.

“This action will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to U.S. ports for sixty days,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X when the waiver first took effect.

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As fuel prices stay high, there is a small but growing clamor to get rid of the Jones Act permanently.