[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 197 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 54671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27050]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 46-98]


Foreign-Trade Zone 50, Long Beach, CA; Proposed Foreign-Trade 
Subzone Equilon Enterprises LLC (Oil Refinery Complex), Los Angeles 
County, CA, Area

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the City of Long 
Beach, grantee of FTZ 50, requesting special-purpose subzone status for 
the oil refinery complex of Equilon Enterprises LLC (a joint-venture 
between Texaco, Inc. and Shell Oil Company), located in the Los Angeles 
County, California, 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 September 30, 1998.
    The refinery complex (308 acres) is located at two sites in the Los 
Angeles County, California, area: Site 1 (100,000 BPD capacity, 300 
acres)--main refinery complex, located at 2101 E. Pacific Coast 
Highway, City of Los Angeles, some 25 miles south of downtown; Site 2 
(8 acres)--sulfur recovery unit, located at 23208 S. Alameda Street, 
Carson, 2 miles north of the refinery.
    The refinery (500 employees) is used to produce fuels and 
petrochemical feedstocks. Fuel products include gasoline, jet fuel, 
distillates, residual fuels, and motor fuel blendstocks. Petrochemical 
feedstocks and refinery by-products include propane, propylene, butane, 
butylene, petroleum coke, sulfur and asphalt. Some 20 to 30 percent of 
the crude oil (93 percent of inputs) and some 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 Customs duty rates that 
apply to certain petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-products 
(duty-free) by admitting incoming foreign crude oil and natural gas 
condensate in non-privileged foreign status. The duty rates on inputs 
range from 5.25 cents/barrel 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 
December 14, 1998. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to December 22, 1998).
    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, Export Assistance Center, 11000 Wilshire 
Blvd., Room 9200, Los Angeles, California 90024
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: October 1, 1998.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-27050 Filed 10-9-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P