President Trump said the U.S. will get its first new oil refinery in 50 years with the help of investment from India’s Reliance Industries Ltd.
“I am proud to announce that America First Refining is opening the FIRST new U.S. Oil Refinery in 50 YEARS in Brownsville, Texas,” Trump said Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.
The announcement came as the White House sought to quell concerns about rising energy prices due to the war in Iran. Trump is weighing several possible options to lower the cost of oil and gasoline, including the release of inventories from emergency reserves, as well as military escorts for tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Texas refinery is the same project that was being developed by Element Fuels, which announced in June 2024 it had completed site preparation and received the necessary permits to construct a plant capable of processing about 160,000 barrels of oil daily. Element Fuels’ web address now redirects to the website for America First Refining, the company Trump said will open the new refinery.
The company plans to break ground on the new refinery in the second quarter of this year and has already signed a 20-year agreement to sell the fuels it produces, according to a Tuesday statement from America First Refining. The sales deal was made with Reliance.
Reliance didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Energy Department referred questions to the White House, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for more details.
The Indian refiner is in discussions with America First for investment in the Texas refinery, according to a person familiar with the plan, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The potential investment comes after Mukesh Ambani, Reliance’s billionaire chairman, got caught in the crossfire last year as Trump and his aides attacked the South Asian nation for buying cheap Russian oil. U.S. officials criticized “India’s politically connected energy titans” and accused them of war profiteering.
The Trump administration is pursuing a policy of U.S. energy dominance, which promotes increased production of oil, natural gas and coal. But while U.S. oil output has surged over the past decade and a half on the back of the shale revolution, the nation relies on an aging array of refineries. Several of the plants have also shut down in recent years, adding to tightness in processing capacity.
The Brownsville refinery will be designed to run entirely on U.S. shale oil, America First said Tuesday.
Previous efforts to revive greenfield refinery construction in the U.S. have fizzled in the face of massive costs, complicated federal and state permitting requirements and environmental opposition. In the mid-2000s, a $2.5-billion plan from Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma to construct a new facility that would process Mexican or Canadian crude south of Phoenix floundered after backers failed to attract sufficient financing.
Risser and Kubzansky write for Bloomberg.