[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 154 (Thursday, August 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 40819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19823]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 40-95]


Foreign-Trade Zone 2, New Orleans, LA Proposed Foreign-Trade 
Subzone BP Exploration & Oil Inc. (Oil Refinery Complex) New Orleans, 
Louisiana, Area

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans, 
grantee of FTZ 2, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil 
refinery complex of BP Exploration & Oil Inc., located in Plaquemines 
Parish, Louisiana (New Orleans 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 August 3, 1995.
    The refinery complex consists of 2 sites in Plaquemines Parish, 
Louisiana: Site 1 (670 acres)--main refinery and petrochemical 
feedstock complex located on the Mississippi River at 15551 Highway 23, 
Belle Chasse, some 20 miles south of New Orleans; Site 2 (409,000 
barrel leased capacity)--tank farm (owned by Chevron), located on the 
Mississippi River at milemarker 25.7, Buras, some 30 miles southeast of 
the refinery.
    The refinery (250,000 barrels per day; 370 employees) is used to 
produce fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Fuels produced include 
gasoline, jet fuel, distillates, residual fuels, and naphthas. 
Petrochemicals include methane, ethane, propane, benzene, and xylene. 
Refinery by-products include petroleum coke and carbon black. Some 50 
percent of the crude oil (90 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, 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 
[60 days from date of publication]. Rebuttal comments in response to 
material submitted during the foregoing period may be submitted during 
the subsequent 15-day period (to [75 days from date of publication]).
     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, Hale Boggs Federal 
Building, 501 Magazine Street, Room 1043, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: August 3, 1995.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-19823 Filed 8-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P