US president Donald Trump has pledged not to weaken restrictions protecting domestic LNG carrier business to Puerto Rico and the North-east.
USA Today reported that he promised a group of Republican lawmakers on Wednesday he would not waive the Jones Act to allow overseas ships to muscle in on the trade.
“The president gave his word,” said senator Bill Cassidy.
Last month it was reported that Trump was considering waiving the requirements of the act.
Puerto Rico has been seeking a decade-long Jones Act waiver since December, as the unincorporated US territory looks to natural gas to meet its power needs as it rebuilds after Hurricane Marine devastated the island in 2017.
The North-east, meanwhile, lacks pipelines to deliver natural gas and new construction is controversial.
The region has some of the highest energy prices nationally with residential electricity topping $0.20 per kilowatt hour in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and prices well above the $0.12 national average in New York and New Jersey, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) statistics.
"The Jones Act has become an obstacle to using US-produced LNG to meet domestic energy needs,” said Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance.
