We have plenty of oil. The problem is refining it. We don’t have refineries that are meant for the type of oil we take from the ground. So we still have to ship our oil away for it to be refined. Our refineries are used to refine oil from other countries. It’s not a great system.
Actually it is. The US produces predominately light, sweet (low sulfur) crude that we sell at a premium and we refine heavy, sour crude that we buy at a discount. It works well almost all of the time but we are not in ordinary times. Europe, Japan and others buy refined products like gasoline and diesel from the Middle East and are now buying them from us which is putting larger demand on our capacity. Effectively we are competing against them at the moment for a capacity that is geared for us alone.
The last large refinery was built in 1977. Per Grok:
“As of early 2026, America First Refining announced plans for a new ~168,000 bpd crude oil refinery at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. ... Groundbreaking is scheduled for Q2 2026 with full operations potentially in 2029 if construction proceeds on schedule.”