[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 12, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18579-18580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8985]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 12-95]


Foreign-Trade Zone 22, Chicago, Illinois Proposed Foreign-Trade 
Subzone UNO-VEN Company (Oil Refinery and Petroleum Coking Complex) 
Will County, Illinois

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Illinois International Port District, grantee of FTZ 
22, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery and 
petroleum coking complex of the UNO-VEN Company (joint-venture between 
VPHI Midwest, Inc. (subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.), and 
Midwest 76, Inc. (subsidiary of Union Oil Company of California)), 
located in Will County, Illinois (Chicago area). The application was 
submitted pursuant to the provisions of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as 
amended (19 U.S.C. 81a-81u), and the regulations of the Board (15 CFR 
part 400). It was formally filed on March 31, 1995.
    The refinery complex (917 acres) consists of 2 sites in Will 
County, Illinois: Site 1 (906 acres)--main refinery complex located 
adjacent to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal at 135th Street, in the 
Romeoville area, some 30 miles southwest of Chicago (includes on-site 
coking operation jointly owned by UNO-VEN and Lemont Carbon, Inc.); 
Site 2 (11 acres)--UNO-VEN crude oil storage (546,000 barrel capacity) 
within Texaco Trading and Transport Tank Farm, located at 301 West 
Second Street, Lockport. Crude oil is transported from the tank farm to 
the refinery via the Chicap Pipeline.
    The refinery (150,000 barrels per day; 730 employees) is used to 
produce fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Fuels produced include 
gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, gas oil, diesel fuel, fuel oil, residual 
fuels and naphthas. Petrochemical feedstocks include methane, ethane, 
mixed butanes, benzene, toluene, xylene, and propane. Refinery by-
products include petroleum coke. Almost all of the crude oil (88 
percent of inputs), and some feedstocks and motor fuel blendstocks are 
sourced abroad.
    Zone procedures would exempt the refinery from Customs duty 
payments on the foreign products used in its exports. On domestic 
sales, the company would be able to choose the finished product duty 
rate (nonprivileged foreign status--NPF) on certain petrochemical 
feedstocks and refinery by-products (duty-free). The duty on crude oil 
ranges from 5.25 cents to 10.5 cents/barrel. The application indicates 
that the savings from zone procedures would help improve the refinery's 
international competitiveness.
    In accordance with the Board's regulations (as revised, 56 FR 
50790-50808, 10-8-91), a member of the FTZ Staff has been designated 
examiner to investigate the application and report to the Board.
    Public comment is invited from interested parties. Submissions 
(original and 3 copies) shall be addressed to the Board's Executive 
Secretary at the address below. The closing period for their receipt is 
June 12, 1995.
    Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the 
foregoing period may be submitted during the [[Page 18580]] subsequent 
15-day period (to June 26, 1995).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Department of Commerce District Office, Xerox Center, Suite 2440, 
55 E. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60603
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230.

    Dated: April 5, 1995.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-8985 Filed 4-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P