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Donald Trump announced plans for the first major refinery to be built in the US in almost half a century in the Texas city of Brownsville backed by Indian energy group Reliance Industries.
The president unveiled the project from a little known group called America First Refining on Truth Social, describing it as “A MASSIVE WIN for American Workers, Energy, and the GREAT People of South Texas!”
“A new Refinery at the Port of Brownsville, will fuel U.S. Markets, strengthen our National Security, boost American Energy production, deliver Billions of Dollars in Economic impact,” Trump wrote.
The announcement comes as the president’s war against Iran roils oil markets and the White House seeks ways to tame a surge in crude prices.
The project, if completed, would be the first new major refining project in the US since Marathon’s Garyville, Louisiana facility came online in 1977.
AFR said the announcement came after it received a “nine-figure investment from a global supermajor at a 10-figure valuation” — which it declined to name.
Trump on Truth Social thanked India’s Reliance for “this tremendous Investment”. Reliance could not immediately be reached for comment.
AFR acknowledged it would need to raise additional capital to complete a project expected to cost up to $4bn.
It said it had also “signed a binding 20-year offtake term sheet with the same global supermajor that secures commitments to purchase, process and distribute American-produced energy exclusively sourced from American shale oil”.
AFR said the facility would be capable of refining about 60mn barrels a year of American light crude and construction would begin in the coming months.
The president wrote the project was “A HISTORIC $300 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL”.
AFR said the figure was based on a calculation that the refinery would purchase and process 1.2bn barrels of shale oil at an estimated value of $125bn and produce 50bn gallons of refined product at an estimated value of $175bn, improving the US trade balance by $300bn.
The new refinery within the Port of Brownsville was first proposed by Element Fuels, which completed site preparations for a hydrogen-powered facility in June 2024. The founder and chief executive of Element Fuels, John Calce, is the CEO of AFR.
Calce told the FT the name “America First” reflected the company’s use of American shale as crude oil feedstock, rather than a political affiliation. “I’m not a major Trump donor,” he added.
The US has 132 operating oil refineries, according to the Energy Information Administration. Most were built decades ago and are best suited to process the kind of heavy crude common in Venezuela and Canada.