U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to build a new oil refinery on the southern U.S. border, backed by India’s Reliance Industries, the operator of the world’s largest refining complex. The 168,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery will be constructed at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, by startup America First Refining. Trump revealed the development on his social media platform Truth Social, thanking Reliance for what he described as a “tremendous investment.” The project comes as gasoline prices rise amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and as political parties prepare for upcoming midterm elections.
America First Refining said the project aims to help reduce the United States’ trade deficit with India while strengthening domestic energy production. The refinery will be designed to process light, sweet crude oil produced from U.S. shale fields, which many existing Gulf Coast refineries cannot efficiently refine because they were built decades ago to process heavier crude. Reliance has reportedly signed a binding 20-year offtake agreement to purchase products from the refinery, and construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.
However, industry analysts expressed skepticism about the need for another refinery along the Gulf Coast, already home to eight of the country’s ten largest facilities. Some experts suggested the Brownsville project could mainly serve export markets, particularly in South America, due to limited local demand and pipeline connections. Reliance Industries, which operates the 1.4 million bpd Jamnagar refinery in India and reported $125 billion in revenue last year, has yet to comment publicly on the announcement.
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