White House Eyes Reopening STX Refinery

M.A. Dworkin

Washington, D.C. - The Trump Administration is looking to reopen closed oil refineries, including the embattled one on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, amid high gasoline prices spurred on by the Iran war.

A White House official confirmed to several news sources that the Trump Administration “would like to see refineries across the country reopen, especially the St. Croix refinery,” stating that the St. Croix refinery is of particular interest because it was built to refine Venezuelan oil and because of its strategic location along Atlantic shipping lanes. 

“St. Croix is one of the refineries on a short list of refineries that the Administration wants to keep running,” stated an industry executive who preferred to remain anonymous.

Among the potential investors who have engaged with the White House on The St. Croix refinery are the backers of the Freedom Fuel Network who operate 25 Philadelphia-area gas stations which have been promoted by President Trump for offering discount gas. The Freedom Fuel representatives had hoped to secure a contract with the Pentagon to buy jet fuel that could help them raise the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to buy and refurbish the St. Croix refinery. 

A White House official stated that since April 2025, companies have approached the Trump Administration to express interest in purchasing the St. Croix refinery and that interest has ramped up considerably since the capture of Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro and the U.S. takeover of the country’s infrastructure. Venezuela had previously supplied the bulk of the crude oil for the St. Croix refinery under a joint venture with its original owners. 

The refinery push was first reported by news outlet Politico. Three oil industry executives told Politico that the White House has had discussions about reopening refineries ranging from the St. Croix refinery in the Virgin Islands to refineries in California.

“Energy security is national security, and America’s refining capacity is essential to ensuring the United States has continuous access to secure, affordable, and reliable energy,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement. “The President’s National Energy Dominance Council will continue supporting the reopening of shuttered refineries and the construction of new ones to lower prices and strengthen our national security.”

The St. Croix refinery operated from 1966 until it was first shuttered in 2012. It was then fully shut down again in 2021, in a failed reopening, after a series of flaring accidents rocked the plant, raining oily mist on nearby residents and triggering large releases of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, causing the EPA to order an emergency shut down, claiming its oil releases and air pollution posed an “imminent risk to public health.” 

The refinery, then owned by Limetree Bay Ventures LLC, (who, along with investors reportedly invested $4 billion into the restart) filed for bankruptcy within months after the EPA emergency shutdown.

The Trump Administration has already taken steps to make it easier to restart old refineries. The EPA last year killed a long-standing policy that required refineries and other industrial sites to obtain a new round of permits if resuming operations after two or more years of sitting idle. 

“The Trump Administration and Lee Zeldin at the EPA have changed course on certain policies that would facilitate the reopening of the St. Croix refinery,” said Jim Reardon, a partner in the law firm Nelson Mullins in Houston, who works with oil and gas companies. “But I remain skeptical that the St. Croix refinery can attract an investor willing to fork over enough money to restart it.”

David Johnson, Director of Port Hamilton Refining & Transportation (PHRT) on St. Croix welcomed the prospect of restarting the refinery.

“By leveraging substantial private investment alongside targeted federal programs that strengthen nationally significant infrastructure and industrial capacity, the restoration of the St. Croix refinery has the potential to accelerate the return of a strategic industrial asset while enhancing U.S. energy security, expanding domestic manufacturing, strengthening supply chain resilience, supporting advanced technologies, creating thousands of jobs and improving America’s long-term economic competitiveness,” said Mr. Johnson. “Our company continues to have constructive discussions with federal and territorial officials, commercial counterparties, investors and financing sources regarding the future of the St. Croix refinery. While those discussions remain confidential, we remain optimistic that the St. Croix refinery can once again become an important contributor to America’s energy security, industrial competitiveness and long-term economic resilience.”

The push to reopen the St. Croix refinery and others around the country come amidst gas prices that have remained stubbornly high due to the war in Iran, averaging over $4.00 per gallon which is $1 higher than they were before the war broke out.

“We have been engaged on the potential restart of the St. Croix refinery since the beginning of Trump taking office,” EPA spokesperson Bright Hirsch said. “The Trump Administration remains willing to work with appropriate parties to address outstanding requirements and identify a safe and lawful path forward,”

Earlier this year, St. Croix residents who sued the facility’s past owners reached a proposed $35 million settlement to resolve claims tied to long-standing toxic exposure.

PHRT, which bought the refinery out of bankruptcy in 2021, has maintained it wants to find a way to restart the facility in an environmentally safe manner. Both the company and Governor Albert Bryan Jr have cited the Trump Administration’s support as a boon to the restart efforts.

“The continued interest in PHRT reflects the strategic importance of the St. Croix refinery and the substantial progress we continue to make toward the safe, phased resumption of operations,” Mr. Johnson said.