Trump invokes Cold War-era Defence Production Act to boost oil production and refining

US ⁠President Donald Trump determined ⁠on Thursday that petroleum ⁠production, refining and related activities are essential to national defence, a move that could open up US funding for fossil fuel projects.

In a presidential memo, Trump also invoked part of ‌the Cold War-era Defence Production Act, allowing him to provide financial incentives for oil-related activities, pipelines and storage of liquid fuels.

Prices for crude oil and diesel have surged since the US and Israel attacked Iran in joint action at the end of February.

Since then, the ⁠conflict has limited energy shipments globally, with Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries ‌exacerbating the fuel shortages.

The surge in costs poses a risk for Trump in the November 3 elections, as his fellow ‌Republicans try to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

A ⁠Reuters/Ipsos opinion ⁠poll that closed Monday shows just 36 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy.

The ‌memo said that without taking the actions, the US is not able to provide enough of ‌those ‌energy services in a “timely manner due to constrained financing, long lead times, ‌permitting and infrastructure bottlenecks and supply chain limitations”.

The memo did not mention ⁠specific projects that could be funded.

The US averaged around 13.6 million ⁠barrels of daily crude production in 2025, making it the largest crude producer worldwide.

Last week, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said the administration would ‌use the Defence ‌Production Act to expand capacity of a Texas refinery owned by Delek US Holdings

Trump signed legislation last year that included US$1 billion in Defence Production Act funding for energy-related projects deemed critical to national security.