Overview
- The administration is actively considering invoking the Defense Production Act to push more refining output after recent White House talks with major refiners, but no formal invocation has been made.
- President Trump issued an April determination that opened DPA authority for petroleum and the administration issued follow-up energy actions in early September to broaden those powers.
- U.S. refineries are operating near full capacity, about 98% by EIA estimates, leaving little spare room to absorb outages and contributing to diesel prices that have topped $6 a gallon.
- Refining executives urged officials to prioritize faster permitting, regulatory changes, and efficiency upgrades or expansions at existing plants because new refineries take years and cost billions to build.
- A proposed 168,000‑barrel‑per‑day Brownsville, Texas project has emerged as a test case and draws private partners and reported ties to Trump family investors, raising questions about how DPA funding or other federal support might be allocated.