Phillips 66 Loads First U.S. Crude on Foreign Tanker Under Jones Act Waiver

Phillips 66 has loaded the first U.S. crude cargo from Texas to an East Coast refinery on a foreign-flagged tanker, leveraging President Trump's temporary Jones Act waiver signed March 18 and effective through mid-May. The shipment of Bakken crude from Beaumont, Texas, aboard the Malta-flagged Htm Warrior heads to the Trainer, Pennsylvania refinery with ~185,000 bpd capacity, marking the only such Gulf-to-Atlantic voyage per Kpler data. This move aims to ease Northeast supply bottlenecks, curb price spikes, and alter regional differentials and refining margins, though waiver uptake remains limited.