Energy Dominance in Action: Why America’s First New Refinery in Decades Matters

After decades of stagnation in America’s refining sector, a significant shift may be underway. The newly announced oil refinery at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, could become one of the first major new U.S. refinery projects in almost five decades. More than just another industrial facility, the project represents renewed confidence that the United States is willing to invest in the infrastructure necessary to sustain its role as a global energy leader.

The refinery, backed by investment connected to Reliance Industries, India’s largest privately held energy company, sends a powerful signal to global markets. Large-scale infrastructure projects require long-term policy stability. When regulatory barriers and permitting delays are eased, private investment follows. The Brownsville project illustrates how predictable policy environments can attract billions of dollars in capital to American energy development.

The benefits of such investment extend well beyond construction. A new refinery would create thousands of jobs during development and support permanent high-skilled positions in operations, maintenance, and logistics. With the ability to refine 168,000 barrels of domestic shale oil daily, it would also support American oil and gas producers as it generates billions of dollars in economic activity across regional supply chains—from engineering and manufacturing to shipping and transportation.

But the importance of refining capacity goes far beyond economics.

For years, America’s energy debate has focused largely on production. Technological advances such as hydraulic fracturing transformed the United States into the world’s largest oil producer and a major energy exporter. These innovations unlocked vast reserves of oil and natural gas that once seemed unreachable.

Yet production alone is not enough.

Crude oil must be refined before it becomes the fuels and products that power modern life. Gasoline fuels cars and light trucks. Diesel powers freight transportation and heavy equipment. Propane heats homes and businesses. Petrochemicals derived from refined petroleum serve as the building blocks for thousands of everyday products, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, and clothing.

Without refineries, crude oil remains little more than a raw material.

Today, the United States operates 132 refineries and accounts for about one-fifth of global refining capacity. That position reflects decades of investment and technological leadership. But in recent years, the sector has faced growing pressure from regulatory complexity, environmental litigation, and policy signals at the highest levels that committed to “get rid of fossil fuels,” threatening the industry’s long-term viability.

In some regions, those pressures have already dangerously reduced refining capacity. When refineries close , fuel supplies tighten and prices rise. Consumers ultimately feel those effects at the pump.

Expanding refining capacity helps strengthen energy security by ensuring the United States can process the energy resources it produces. Domestic refining reduces reliance on foreign facilities and allows the country to maintain stable supplies of transportation and heating fuels, lubricants, asphalt (construction materials), and other industrial chemicals.

Additional capacity also strengthens resilience. Natural disasters, geopolitical instability, and global supply disruptions can all affect fuel markets. A robust domestic refining system provides flexibility when those shocks occur.

The Brownsville refinery proposal also highlights a broader reality about global energy demand.

Despite years of predictions that fossil fuels would quickly fade, oil and natural gas remain central to the global economy. Together with coal, they still supply the vast majority — approximately 80% — of the world’s primary energy demand.

Their importance extends far beyond transportation fuels. Petroleum and natural gas feedstocks support chemical manufacturing, agriculture, industrial production, and electricity generation. Natural gas is also essential for fertilizer production that sustains global food supplies.

Energy abundance underpins economic growth and rising living standards worldwide.

The United States produces and refines energy under some of the world’s most stringent environmental standards. For example, American natural gas production emits as much as 30% less emissions than Russian production. Maintaining strong domestic refining capacity helps ensure that global energy demand is met by producers operating under transparent regulations rather than shifting production to countries with weaker oversight.

Of course, one refinery will not determine America’s energy future. Maintaining energy leadership requires continued investment across the entire supply chain—from exploration and production to pipelines, export terminals, and refining infrastructure.

America’s modern energy success story has always been driven by innovation and investment. Technologies like hydraulic fracturing transformed fears of resource scarcity into an era of energy abundance.

Expanding refining capacity represents the next step in that evolution. Projects like the proposed Brownsville refinery demonstrate that the United States remains willing to build the industrial systems that support economic growth, strengthen national security, and sustain global energy leadership, and in so doing, put America First.

Jason Hayes is America First Policy Institute’s Director of Energy & Environment.