Axens, a global leader in refining and petrochemical technologies, announced today that it has been selected by America First Refining (AFR) as the technology licensor for its large-scale refining facility at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. The project marks the first new refinery to be built in the United States in more than 50 years.
As part of the agreement, Axens will provide its industry-leading refining technologies to support the design and operation of the facility, including critical systems that will contribute to the refinery’s overall performance and reduced energy consumption.
Axens has been engaged on the project since 2017, working alongside America First Refining entities to advance the development of a next-generation facility purpose-built for American energy.
The AFR facility will leverage commercially proven technologies to efficiently process American shale oil into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Once operational, the refinery is expected to process more than 60 million barrels per year of domestic crude, supporting U.S. energy resilience and modernizing refining infrastructure.
We’re proud to be selected by America First Refining for this strategic project—one of the rare new refinery developments in the United States. With Axens technologies for naphtha and diesel hydrotreating, continuous catalytic reforming and isomerization, AFR will have a robust platform to produce high quality clean fuels with strong long-term performance. This selection underscores customers’ confidence in Axens’ end to end offer, from licensing to engineering, equipment, catalysts and services.
The refinery is specifically designed to process 100% American light shale oil, aligning U.S. refining capacity with today’s production landscape. Located at a deep-water port with access to global markets, the facility will produce some of the cleanest fuels refined at scale in the United States while strengthening domestic supply chains.