Highlights
- Trump announced Reliance Industries will invest in a new oil refinery at the Port of Brownsville.
- The project is described as a $300 bn deal based on projected oil purchases and refined product output over its lifetime.
- Reliance Industries has not officially confirmed its involvement and America First Refining's press release did not name the company.
Historic US project
If completed, the refinery would be the first major refining project in the US since Marathon's Garyville, Louisiana facility came online in 1977.
The US currently has 132 operating oil refineries, most built decades ago and better suited to process heavy crude from Venezuela and Canada rather than American light shale oil.
Trey Griggs, president of America First Refining, said: "The United States has a surplus of light shale oil but a shortage of refining capacity designed to process it."
Trump said the refinery would "strengthen national security, boost American energy production and deliver billions of dollars in economic impact."
The $300 bn figure cited by Trump is based on projections that the refinery will purchase and process 1.2 bn barrels of shale oil worth an estimated $125 bn and produce 50 bn gallons of refined products worth $175 bn — improving the US trade balance by $300 bn overall.
The announcement comes as crude oil prices remain volatile amid the intensifying US-Israel conflict with Iran, with Brent crude rising to $88.98 per barrel.
John Calce, chief executive of America First Refining, told Financial Times that the company's name reflected its use of American shale as feedstock rather than any political affiliation, adding: "I'm not a major Trump donor."
