Crude Summit: Hamm calls for Jones Act LNG waiver

The US should exempt liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to the US northeast from the Jones Act, but should otherwise keep the shipping regulation, said Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm.

"[The US needs to] get LNG shipped to New York and Boston and places there that have to have it, instead of buying it from Russia. That waiver needs to be granted. It can be and should be," said Hamm at the Argus Crude Summit in Houston today.

There are no Jones Act-compliant LNG carriers available to serve that trade, said Hamm, and a waiver would allow international carriers to do it.

Hamm, though a frequent critic of US regulation on the energy industry, voiced support for the Jones Act as a whole.

"[The Jones Act] involves the military, shipbuilding, and warships, and keeping that capability. [The Jones Act] is a tough one to get around," he said.

The Jones Act helps ensure that the US has a shipbuilding industry by creating a market for high cost US-built ships.

The last time the US granted a Jones Act waiver was in September 2017, when hurricane-struck Puerto Rico needed fuel and other supplies to be delivered to the US territory's ports for relief.

The Jones Act is a long-standing piece of US legislation that requires cargo shipments between US ports to be conducted on US-flagged, US-built, and US-crewed ships.