Fort Worth firm involved in plans for new Persian Gulf refinery 10%
By Bob Francis11%
7/31/2026, 3:47:01 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 5 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Optimism Bias, and Appeal to Emotion, with Self-Serving Bias as the most egregious example at 10.5% saturation with 61 hits. Analysis detected 200 faulty-reasoning hits from 580 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 22.3% and a BS Rank of 10% (22,851 of 25,250 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 90.50% of the article peer group.
A consortium of U.S. and Saudi companies is set to build a new oil refinery in the Persian Gulf, and a Fort Worth firm is one of the key partners.
It’s one of two new refineries planned that involve North Texas firms.
The consortium, MERA Oil, includes Fort Worth-based MWG Group, the Patel Family Office and PWS, a company associated with Saudi AHQ Group, a diversified Saudi Arabian industrial conglomerate.
The new facility will be built outside the Strait of Hormuz, an international flashpoint during the current U.S. and Israeli conflict with Iran.
The refinery will have a price tag of $5 billion and a capacity of 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
It will combine energy-efficient refining technologies and advanced emissions-control systems, according to a news release from the group.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a major maritime choke point for world energy trade, resulting in a roller-coaster ride of gasoline prices for consumers.
MWG Enterprises is an energy development company founded and led by entrepreneur Marc W.
Gunderson of Fort Worth.
Among other ventures, MWG Enterprises operates Twin Oaks Bloodstock, an equine management company.
“The sponsor partnership is assembled, the development concept and capital strategy are defined, and we are now choosing our host,” Gunderson said in a news release.
The “host” in this case being one of several Persian Gulf countries under consideration.
From left, Lakshmi Narayanan, vice chair of Patel Family Office; Marc W.
Gunderson, founder of MWG Enterprises,; Abdul Malik Alqahtani, group chief executive officer of AHQ Group.
(Courtesy | MERA Oil)
Dallas-based Patel Family Office is a privately held, third-generation family office with a focus on energy, infrastructure and industrial investments.
It made its name in the hospitality business, where it owns more than 400 properties and currently has more than 50 hotel projects under development.
The partners are currently selecting the site of the new facility, with a list of three possible locations from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
The site should be selected by the end of the year.
In addition to a refinery, the project will feature a deepwater port, storage capacity and export facilities, according to a news release from the group.
A new refinery, especially outside the Strait of Hormuz, is welcome news, said Rey Trevino III, director of operations for Fort Worth-based Pecos Country Energy, an oil and gas exploration and production company.
“We’re seeing unprecedented energy demand, and it only looks to grow,” Trevino said.
There is also a refinery planned for the U.S. that could help alleviate the pressure put on the energy industry by conflicts in the Middle East, Trevino said.
It will be the first new refinery in the U.S. in over 50 years.
That refinery, set to be constructed in Brownsville, Texas by America First Refining, will process U.S. shale oil, much of it produced in the state.
“This is important because over 75% of our refineries in America cannot process that sweet crude that we bring up from the ground right here in America,” Trevino said.
Irving-based Fluor Corp. will provide the front-end engineering and design for the new refinery.
Bob Francis is business editor at the Fort Worth Report. bob.francis@fortworthreport.org .
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters.
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