[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 142 (Monday, July 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 44490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16976]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 28-2004]


Foreign-Trade Zone 227, Durant, OK, Proposed Foreign-Trade 
Subzone, TPI Petroleum, Inc. (Oil Refinery Complex), Ardmore, OK

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc., grantee of FTZ 227, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery complex 
of TPI Petroleum, Inc. (TPI), a subsidiary of Valero Energy 
Corporation, located at three sites in the Ardmore, Oklahoma, 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 July 13, 2004.
    The TPI refinery complex is located at 3 sites in the Ardmore, 
Oklahoma, area, some 100 miles south of Oklahoma City: Site 1 (85,000 
BPD capacity, 2,730,000 barrel storage capacity, 737.45 acres)--main 
refinery complex, located at Highway 142 Bypass and E. Cameron Road 
(Carter County); Site 2 (20.03 acres, 2 tanks, 184,000 barrel total 
crude storage capacity)--Wesson Storage Terminal, located at 13798 
Prairie Valley Road, (Carter County), some 13 miles west of the 
refinery; and, Site 3 (22.25 acres, 2 tanks, 160,000 barrel total 
finished product storage capacity)--Wynnewood Storage Terminal, State 
Highway 17A and Froman Lane (Murray County), some 35 miles north of the 
refinery. The refinery complex is adjacent to the Dallas/Fort Worth 
Customs port of entry.
    TPI's Ardmore refinery (260 employees) is used to produce fuels and 
other petroleum products. Products include gasoline, jet fuel, 
distillates, residual fuels, naphthas, motor fuel blendstocks, LPGs, 
petroleum coke and sulfur. Some 80 percent of the crude oil (75 percent 
of inputs) is sourced abroad. The company is also requesting to import 
certain intermediate inputs (naphthas and gas oils) under FTZ 
procedures.
    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 products and refinery by-products (duty-
free) by admitting incoming foreign inputs (crude oil, natural gas 
condensate, gas oil, naphtha) in non-privileged foreign status. The 
duty rates on inputs range from 5.25[cent]/barrel to 10.5[cent]/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 one of the following addresses:
    1. Submissions Via Express/Package Delivery Services: Foreign-
Trade-Zones Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, Franklin Court 
Building--Suite 4100W, 1099 14th St. NW., Washington, DC 20005; or
    2. Submissions Via the U.S. Postal Service: Foreign-Trade-Zones 
Board, U.S. Department of Commerce, FCB--Suite 4100W, 1401 Constitution 
Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20230.
    The closing period for their receipt is September 24, 2004. 
Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during the 
foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period 
until October 12, 2004.
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at the Office of the Foreign-Trade 
Zones Board's Executive Secretary at address Number 1 listed above, and 
at the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Assistance Center, 301 NW., 
63rd Street, Suite 330, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116.

    Dated: July 15, 2004.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-16976 Filed 7-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P