President Donald Trump has directed the Secretary of War to use Defense Production Act powers to support U.S. petroleum production, refining and logistics, designating those capabilities as essential to national defense.
In a memorandum dated Thursday, Oct. 22, Trump covered activity from oil exploration and production to the systems used to store and move petroleum, including pipelines and marine terminals. The War secretary may use federal purchases, commitments and financial instruments to help expand that capacity.
Trump made the determination under Section 303(a)(5) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 and invoked Section 303(a)(7) to waive requirements in subsections (a)(1) through (a)(6). The memorandum says the waiver is intended to address a potential capacity shortfall that could seriously affect national defense.
The document points to financing limits and supply-chain constraints, as well as the time needed to develop projects and delays tied to permits and infrastructure. It says those obstacles could keep industry from providing needed capacity in time.
The order names no projects or recipients and sets no spending total or quantified output or capacity target. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that domestic crude oil and lease-condensate production averaged a record 13.6 million barrels per day in 2025. The memorandum does not quantify a shortfall in production, refining or logistics.
The authorized measures could benefit petroleum producers, refiners and logistics operators, but the memorandum does not identify beneficiaries, a funding source or an overall cost.
An April determination with the same title was addressed to the Secretary of Energy and appeared in the Federal Register on April 23. The October version is addressed to the Secretary of War and says it supersedes earlier directives where they conflict.
The memorandum directs the Secretary of War to publish the determination in the Federal Register but sets no publication date.
