Donald Trump has announced that a new oil refinery will be built in the United States for the first time in nearly 50 years, with investment coming from Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani through his company Reliance Industries.
In a statement posted on his social media platform Truth Social, President Trump described the project as a historic agreement worth $300 billion, calling it one of the largest deals in American history. According to Trump, the new refinery will significantly strengthen the U.S. economy and enhance national energy security.
The refinery is planned to be constructed at the port of Port of Brownsville in the U.S. state of Texas. The project is expected to play a major role in processing large volumes of American shale oil and expanding the country’s refining capacity.
Media reports indicate that the refinery will be specifically designed to process U.S. light shale oil. The facility will be developed by a company named America First Refining, which is responsible for establishing and operating the new refining complex.
Although the company did not directly name Reliance Industries in its announcement, it confirmed that a long-term agreement has been signed with an international partner for the purchase, processing, and distribution of American shale oil over the next 20 years. Industry observers believe this partner is Reliance Industries, one of the largest energy and petrochemical companies in the world.
Under the agreement, the refinery will process approximately 1.2 billion barrels of light shale oil produced in the United States. The estimated value of the crude oil to be processed is around $125 billion. Once refined, the facility is expected to produce about 50 billion gallons of petroleum products, with a projected total value of nearly $175 billion.
Experts say the project could significantly boost the U.S. energy sector by expanding domestic refining capabilities. Processing shale oil within the country rather than exporting it for refining can increase economic returns and create new jobs in the energy industry.
The planned refinery is also expected to contribute to the strategic goal of strengthening U.S. energy independence. Over the past decade, the United States has become one of the world’s largest producers of shale oil due to technological advancements in drilling techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.
However, despite the growth in production, new refinery construction has been rare in the United States because of environmental regulations, high construction costs, and shifting global energy trends. Trump’s announcement that a new refinery will be built for the first time in nearly half a century highlights the scale and significance of the project.
For Reliance Industries, the investment represents another major expansion of its global energy footprint. The company already operates one of the world’s largest refining complexes in India and has extensive experience in petroleum refining and petrochemical production.
The partnership between American energy producers and an international investor like Reliance Industries reflects the increasingly global nature of the energy market. Large infrastructure projects such as refineries often require enormous capital investments and long-term supply agreements to remain economically viable.
If completed as planned, the Texas refinery could become one of the most significant industrial energy projects in recent years. Analysts say it could reshape supply chains for shale oil, increase refining output, and strengthen economic ties between the United States and major international investors.
The project also underscores the continued importance of oil and petroleum products in the global energy system, even as many countries gradually transition toward renewable energy sources.
Further details about the construction timeline, employment impact, and operational capacity of the refinery are expected to emerge as planning and development of the project move forward.
