MMEX Resources Corp (MMEX)

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Jack Hanks wants to build the first new U.S. refinery in 40 years.
He knows it’s a challenging prospect: He has a lot of money to raise — he figures it will cost about $450 million to build a 10,000 barrel-per-day distillation plant and 50,000 barrel-per-day refinery. His company, MMEX Resources Corp., has had some money troubles in its past.
And he’s never before built a refinery. So he knows he has critics.

But he’d like a little bit of patience, please.
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“We’ve had a lot of people ask the same question,” Hanks told the Chronicle recently. “‘Well, wait a minute, how are you going to build a $500 million project when you don’t have any money?’”

The answer, says Hanks: Project financing, where construction debt and equity are paid back via project revenues.
“We’re making great progress,” said Hanks. “But I’ve got to put the pieces in place. It’s not like flipping the switch.”

With all of that light, sweet crude coming out of the Permian — oil that Gulf Coast refineries aren’t calibrated to process well — robust diesel demand, and a southern neighbor hungry for gasoline, Hanks thinks the market is ready.
“Nobody’s covering Western Mexico,” Hanks said. “Everything is trucked and barged out of Eastern refineries.”
On Monday, MMEX announced it had closed on land near Fort Stockton, in West Texas, for the distillation unit, the first phase of construction and production.