[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 8422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4507]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board
[Docket 8-97]


Foreign-Trade Zone 82; Mobile, Alabama; Application for Subzone 
Status Coastal Mobile Refining Company (Oil Refinery Complex) Mobile 
County, Alabama

    An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 
(the Board) by the City of Mobile, Alabama, grantee of FTZ 82, 
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery complex 
of Coastal Mobile Refining Company (wholly-owned subsidiary of Coastal 
Corporation), located in Mobile County, Alabama. 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 February 12, 1997.
    The refinery complex (45 acres, 41 employees) consists of 3 sites 
and connecting pipelines in Mobile County, Alabama: Site 1 (10 acres)--
main refinery complex (15,000 BPD), located on Chickasaw Creek at 200 
Viaduct Road, some 2 miles north of Mobile; Site 2 (17 acres)--North 
Terminal storage facility (290,000 barrel capacity), located on 
Chickasaw Creek, 1 mile north of the refinery; and Site 3 (18 acres)--
three storage tanks (450,000 barrel capacity) at Blakely Island 
Terminal, located on the Mobile River, some 7 miles south of the 
refinery.
    The refinery produces fuels and petrochemical feedstocks. Fuels 
produced include gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, distillates and residual 
fuels. Petrochemical feedstocks and refinery byproducts include butane, 
propane, benzene, toluene, xylene, propylene, cumene, sulfur, petroleum 
coke and asphalt. All of the crude oil (85 percent of inputs) and some 
feedstocks and motor fuel blendstocks used in producing fuel products 
are sourced abroad.
    Zone procedures would exempt the operations involved 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 byproducts (duty-free) instead of the duty 
rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced inputs (e.g., 
crude oil, natural gas condensate). The duty rates on crude oil 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 
April 28, 1997. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted 
during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-
day period (to May 12, 1997).
    A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be 
available for public inspection at each of the following locations:

U.S. Customs Service Port Director's Office, Suite 3400, 150 N. Royal 
Street, Mobile, Alabama 36602
Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room 
3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20230

    Dated: February 18, 1997.
John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-4507 Filed 2-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P