Washington/New Delhi, Mar 11: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will partner in building the first new oil refinery in the US in 50 years, US President Donald Trump said, calling it the “biggest in US history”.
The new refinery will be located in Brownsville, Texas, and will be designed to run entirely on US shale oil, according to America First Refining (AFR) — the firm piloting the project.
Reliance has signed a 20-year agreement to purchase fuels produced at the refinery, with groundbreaking for the project scheduled in the second quarter of 2026.
While Trump in a social media post on Truth Social named Reliance as partner in the project that he said was “A HISTORIC $300 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL”, AFR without naming the company said it has “received a 9-figure investment from a global supermajor at a 10-figure valuation”.
Reliance did not immediately offer any comments.
Once completed, it would be the first new major refining project in the US since Marathon’s Garyville, Louisiana, facility came online in 1977.
Neither Trump nor AFR gave financial details of the project or completion timelines.
The project may cost up to USD 4-5 billion, according to industry experts.
This will be the first oil refinery that Reliance will build in the US. It operates the world’s biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat with a capacity to process 1.24 million barrels of crude oil.
Reliance has had longstanding commercial presence in the US through energy trading, technology partnerships and investments. The company previously invested in US shale gas assets and currently sell a lot of fuel in the US. Reliance also sources crude oil, petrochemical feedstocks and technology from US partners, while its digital and retail arms have explored collaborations with American technology firms and investors.
The likes of Facebook and Google have invested in Ambani’s digital unit, Jio Platforms, while US investors such as General Atlantic have taken minority stake in Reliance Retail Ventures.
The group has periodically tapped US capital markets and continues to deepen ties with US companies in energy, materials, and digital infrastructure.
Without naming Reliance, AFR said it “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”.
Under the newly signed agreement, 1.2 billion barrels of US light shale oil, valued at USD 125 billion, will be purchased and processed. Also, AFR will produce 50 billion gallons of refined products worth USD 175 billion.
“The US trade imbalance will improve by USD 300 billion,” it said in a statement.
Trump announced the project by little-known group America First Refining on Truth Social, calling it “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,” he wrote.
The new refinery at the Port of Brownsville was first proposed by Element Fuels, which completed site preparations for a hydrogen-powered facility in June 2024. It had completed site preparation and received the necessary permits to construct the plant with a capacity to process about 160,000 barrels of oil per day. John Calce, Founder and Chief Executive of Element Fuels, is the CEO of AFR.
“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.
The announcement came just as the US and Israel war against Iran roils oil markets and the White House seeks ways to quell concerns about rising energy prices.
The United States has 132 operating oil refineries, according to the US Energy Information Administration, with a combined capacity of about 18.4 million barrels per day. Most of these facilities were built decades ago and configured to process heavier, high-sulfur crude oils, particularly those from countries such as Venezuela and Canada, rather than the lighter crude that dominates US shale production today.
