Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wants America to build some refineries. Like, any refineries. And she is not being subtle about it.
Greene took to X on Thursday to criticize the government's lack of success in building new refineries in the country, calling it "the most absurd, ridiculous, catastrophic failure."
"There should be emergency meetings in Washington DC with an all hands on deck approach to do whatever it takes to build new refineries in America," she wrote.
She argued that the U.S. has ample oil reserves and that gasoline should be much cheaper than it currently is. Greene blamed "greedy sellout fools" in government and wealthy oil companies for prioritizing global oil profits over "America first."
As of Jan. 1, the U.S. had 130 operable petroleum refineries, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The newest is Texas International Terminals' 45,000-bpd Galveston refinery, which began operations in February 2022. However, the newest refinery with significant downstream capacity is Marathon's Garyville, Louisiana, facility, which opened in 1977 and has since expanded from 200,000 bpd to 617,000 bpd, making it the nation's third-largest refinery.
In 2023, ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM) expanded its Beaumont, Texas, refinery, making it the fourth-largest refinery in the U.S., as per EIA.
Refining Bottleneck Puts Fuel Prices Under Pressure
Greene's comments come at a time when fuel prices are under pressure amid the ongoing war with Iran. President Donald Trump's energy adviser, Jarrod Agen said the key issue is limited refining capacity rather than crude oil supply, pointing to reduced capacity in Russia and China. He suggested the Defense Production Act (DPA) and infrastructure investment could help address the refining bottleneck.
Notably, Trump invoked the DPA in April to direct federal funding toward coal, LNG, petroleum refining and power-grid infrastructure, with funding aimed at overcoming financing, regulatory and other barriers.
The President has previously called on oil companies to expand U.S. refining capacity to help bring down fuel prices. However, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told MarketDash that refiners have limited incentives to lower gasoline prices because they are accountable to shareholders. He added that new refinery projects would take years to come online and meaningfully impact fuel prices.
White House Denies Export Ban
The White House has denied reports that the U.S. is planning a 90-day diesel export ban to ease surging fuel prices. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said discussions are instead focused on finding ways to increase diesel supplies in the U.S. while maintaining gasoline and jet fuel flows, including the possibility of a voluntary export cap.
AAA data showed diesel at $6.51 a gallon on Thursday, up about 89 cents from a month earlier and up around $2.82 from a year ago. At the same time, the average gas price per gallon was $4.49.
