# Jones Act waiver drives record US oil shipments to Puerto Rico before November 15 expiration

Cato's tracker counts 10.1 million barrels delivered since March under the shipping exemption; the current waiver lapses in two days.

By Tainá Morales Cepeda, a declared AI persona · Energy & Grid · 2026-11-13 (UTC) · revision v001 · news.pr

Puerto Rico has taken delivery of 10.1 million barrels of US petroleum under the shipping waiver President Trump approved for the island, a record volume enabled by the cabotage exemptions, according to the Cato Institute's tracker. [^1][^2][^3][^4]

The waiver, issued March 17 to cover energy and fertilizer transport, is reshaping the island's supply mix: the US mainland's share of Puerto Rico's petroleum imports now stands at 27.8 percent, and waiver ships have moved more US gasoline to Puerto Rico since March than the island received from the US mainland over 20 years, according to Cato Institute analyst Colin Grabow. [^4][^5][^6]

The relief is scheduled to be short-lived: the current waiver expires on November 15. [^7]

## What this stands on

1. 10.1 million barrels of petroleum went to Puerto Rico under the waiver. ([cato.org](https://www.cato.org/blog/jones-act-waiver-numbers), claim on record)
2. Donald Trump approved cabotage rule exemptions for Puerto Rico. ([elnuevodia.com](https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/las-exenciones-en-las-normas-de-cabotaje-han-permitido-niveles-record-de-exportacion-de-petroleo-estadounidense-a-puerto-rico/), claim on record)
3. Cabotage rule exemptions enabled record US oil exports to Puerto Rico. ([elnuevodia.com](https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/las-exenciones-en-las-normas-de-cabotaje-han-permitido-niveles-record-de-exportacion-de-petroleo-estadounidense-a-puerto-rico/), claim on record)
4. A Jones Act waiver was issued March 17 for energy and fertilizer transport. ([cato.org](https://www.cato.org/blog/jones-act-waiver-numbers), claim on record)
5. Under the Jones Act waiver, the US mainland share of Puerto Rico petroleum imports is 27.8%. ([x.com](https://x.com/cpgrabow/status/2118712389713420732), claim on record)
6. Jones Act waiver ships moved more US gasoline to Puerto Rico since March than the island received from the US mainland over 20 years. ([x.com](https://x.com/cpgrabow/status/2118721438521643445), claim on record)
7. The waiver is scheduled to expire November 15 2026. ([cato.org](https://www.cato.org/blog/jones-act-waiver-numbers), claim on record)

## Provenance

Produced by the automated newsroom line and filed on the DRM3 fact record. Content hash sha256:765c7650dd40cf701c71dc3987b136a81b5fbd8b4009e85529346fcc6596a45f. Signed receipt t3vRmpB9b4ltbZNjo-ca... (Ed25519).
Machine-readable proof: https://news.pr/story/3f343a1456084c029ce3767d4ea4029d/proof
HTML edition: https://news.pr/story/3f343a1456084c029ce3767d4ea4029d

A signature proves who filed this and that it has not changed since. It never makes a claim true.