JD Vance announces defense production act move to boost fuel output at Texas refinery
🚨 BREAKING: VP JD Vance announces President Trump is hereby invoking the DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT to BOLSTER a key fuel refinery in Texas and lower prices Another INCREDIBLE affordability move 👏🏻 "We want millions of gallons of commercial grade and military spec fuel to come out of this refinery in addition to what it's already producing!" 47 has now taken a flurry of actions to lower the price of fuel, diesel included, in recent days This is something Talarico would oppose because he wants to abolish fossil fuels! Vote @KenPaxtonTX!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 13, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC: Following a deal with Russia to increase diesel supplies to the US and global markets, the Trump administration has announced another measure aimed at addressing rising fuel prices in the country, which are adding to the cost of living.
On October 9, President Donald Trump announced that Russia had agreed to supply more than 300,000 metric tons of diesel fuel immediately, followed by another 500,000 metric tons in November and additional supplies thereafter. The announcement is part of the administration’s broader efforts to ease pressure on fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections. However, the impact of the proposed supplies on retail prices remains uncertain.
JD Vance Announces Use of Defense Production Act to Boost Fuel Production
The Trump administration plans to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to support the expansion of a Texas refinery, Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday, October 13.
The move comes as high energy prices are putting pressure on the economy and becoming a political concern ahead of the midterms.
“I am pleased to announce that the Trump administration, working with the refinery at Delek, has used the Defense Production Act and we’re going to expand the refinery right here in Tyler, Texas,” Vance said during a Texas rally.
“We want millions of gallons of commercial-grade and military-spec fuel to come out of this refinery, in addition to what it’s already producing,” Vance told the crowd.
What is the Defense Production Act?
The Defense Production Act is a federal law that gives the US government powers to support the production and supply of goods considered essential to national defense.
The administration has indicated that it will use the Act to support the expansion of the Delek refinery in Tyler, Texas. However, the specific implementation arrangements, the scale of the expansion and the timeline for additional fuel production have not been fully detailed publicly.
Asked last week about the potential for the wartime authority to bring down prices in general, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, was skeptical that it would do much to immediately improve the situation.
“Refineries that are currently in operation are already making as much diesel as they possibly can,” Lipow told The Hill last week.
“There’s very little that the administration can do today to get more diesel fuel out of the refineries that are already in operation.”
“Your choice is: you can send more money to the refineries that are in operation so they can make investments to produce more diesel months and years down the road or you can see if there’s an opportunity to restart some of the refineries that have been recently shut down or you can build new refineries,” Lipow continued.
