The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1943-07-30


d Refining Company of Kansas,
J of the association here today.
,as, the plant is one of the larg-
<est independent refineries in
the middle west. It's extreme
capacity is 1880 barrels of
crude oil a day, or approx
mately 175,000,000 gallons of
refined fuels annually, al
though under present federal
restrictions on refiners it will
not use that volume of crude oil or
turn out that volume of refined fuels
Included in the purchase is the 6-inch,
229-mile refined products pipe line
from Mcpherson, Kan, to Council
Bluffs, Iowa, together with land,
buildings, storage tanks and other
equipment. The purchase price in.
Guiding inventory and working capital
is in the neighborhood of $4,000
The pipe line, completed in 1871, can
deliver as much as 5000 barrels of
gasoline a day.
National Cooperative Refinery AS
ISOLATION was incorporated July I'M
der the cooperative marketing act of
Kansas to own and operate the Nc
Pherson refinery. Incorporators are
Central Cooperative Wholesale, Su-
perior, Wis; Midland Cooperative
Wholesale, Minneapolis; Farmers I'm
ion Central Exchange, st. Paul; Farm
ers Union State Exchange, Omaha,
and Consumers Cooperative Associa-
ton, North Kansas City, Mo. Author
lied capital of NORA is $2,010,000.
It's policies will be formulated by IL
directors who have been chosen from
the five groups.
The Mcpherson refinery, built in
1882 by l. A. O'Shaughnessy of ST.
Paul and associates, has a rated capa-
city today of $4,000 barrels of crude
oil a day. For several years Globe
has supplied petroleum products to a
majority of the regional co-operatives
which are now purchasing it. NORA
will have 265 employees, and offices
at Wichita, Mcpherson and Council
Bluffs. There is storage for 100000
barrels of crude oil and 100000 bar
rels of refined products at Mcpherson,
100000 barrels at Council Bluffs, with
additional storage space now under
construction Crude oil to operate
the refinery will come by pipe line
principally from central and western
Kansas while the remainder needed
will come from wells in Mcpherson
county.
Purchase of Globe brings to five
the number of refineries owned by
the five regional cooperative whole
sales that incorporated NORA. Two
of these are owned by Consumers Co
Kan, the other at Scottsbluff, Neb.
Farmers Union Central Exchange
owns plant at Laurel, Mont, while
Midland Cooperative Wholesale is
owner of a plant at Cushing, Okla
The Globe purchase bring to eight the
fineries in the United States and puts
co-operatives close to the top as in
dependent refiners. Nearly 10000
barrels of crude oil day are required
to keep their eight plants running at
capacity.
Directors of NORA pointed out that
cooperative WHOLESALERS, being service
are seeking, through
the purchase of additional refining
facilities, to meet the refined fuel
the matter of obtaining adequate pc
troleum supplies from other suppliers
is becoming more and more of a prob
lem each passing year, and that CO.
operative members cannot meet food
for freedom goals without an abun-
dance of petroleum products The
current shortage of gasoline and trac-
tor fuel in Kansas, which promises to
extend into other states as the har-
vest moves northward, is the situa-
lion the cooperative are seeking to
through facilities of their own,
NORA directors said
The five cooperative WHOLESALERS
are providing farm and home. supplies
or 1,402 local Coop associations
which have more than 725,000 patrons.
Their combined volume of business at
wholesale last year totaled nearly
;45,OOO,0OO
Howard A. Cowden, president and
general manager of GOA, was named
PRESIDENT of NORA; w. R. Graham.
n charge of the oil department of
Midland Coop Wholesale, vice presi-
lent; and ]. L. Nolan, head of the
petroleum department of Farmers I'm
on Central Exchange, secretary treas
lrer. Executive committee members
re Cowden, Nolan, Graham, c. Nc
Jarthy, general manager of the Farm
rs Union State Exchange, Omaha,
md William Liimatainon, Jacobson,
Iin., representing Central Co-opera-
i've Wholesale.