President Trump determined on Thursday that domestic petroleum production, refining, and related logistics activities are essential to national defense. The move invokes provisions of the Defense Production Act to enable financial incentives for expanding oil-related projects, pipelines, and fuel storage.

In the presidential memo, Trump cited constraints including financing limitations, permitting delays, infrastructure bottlenecks, and supply chain issues that prevent timely delivery of energy services. The determination waives certain statutory requirements under Section 303 of the act to accelerate capacity expansion.

The action comes amid surging fuel prices driven by geopolitical tensions. Crude oil and diesel prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iran at the end of February. Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries have further tightened global supplies.

The United States produced an average of 13.6 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2025, remaining the world's top producer. Last week, Vice President JD Vance announced plans to use the Defense Production Act to expand capacity at a Delek US Holdings refinery in Tyler, Texas.

Trump signed legislation last year that allocated $1 billion in Defense Production Act funding for energy projects deemed critical to national security. The latest memo does not specify individual projects eligible for support.

The Defense Production Act, originally enacted in 1950 during the Korean War, grants the president authority to direct private industry toward national defense priorities. Administration officials have previously used the law to push refiners toward higher diesel output as prices remain elevated ahead of midterm elections.