(Cite as: 58 FR 41710)
NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
(Docket No. 33-93)
Proposed Foreign-Trade Subzone; Chevron U.S.A. Products Co., (Oil Refinery),
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Thursday, August 5, 1993
An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the
Board) by the Gulfport/Biloxi Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., grantee of FTZ 92,
requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery of Chevron
U.S.A. Products Company (Chevron), located in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 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 21, 1993.
The facility (3,100 acres) is located on the Mississippi Sound, east of
Pascagoula, some 35 miles east of Gulfport, in Jackson County, Mississippi.
The refinery (approx. 295,000 BPD; 1,195 employees) is used to produce fuel
and chemical products. Fuels produced include gasoline, jet fuel, fuel oil,
diesel fuel, and light naphtha. Chemical products produced include refinery
gases such as liquified petroleum gas, propane, and butane; petrochemical
feedstocks, such as paraxylene and propylene; and refinery byproducts, such
as asphalt, sulfur, and petroleum coke. The company also has plans to add a
processing plant to produce benzene for petrochemical use. All of the
petroleum coke and 9 percent of the fuels are exported. Up to 90 percent of
the crude oil (95 percent of imputs) is sourced abroad.
The application requests authority to use zone procedures primarily for
export activity at this time and indicates that Chevron will accept
approval subject to the standard oil refinery restrictions (privileged
foreign status on incoming foreign merchandise and full duties on fuel
consumed). At the outset, one of the main uses of zone procedures would
involve the refining of foreign crude oil for jet fuel that is sold for
international flights, which could displace foreign-sourced jet fuel that
is imported duty- and tax-free under the bonded fuel program.
Zone procedures would exempt Chevron from Customs duty payments on the
foreign products used in its exports, including jet fuel sold for
international flights. The company would be able to defer Customs duties on
finished products shipped to U.S. markets. (The duty on crude oil ranges
from 5.25 to 10.5 cents/barrel.) Jet fuel sold for international flights
also would be exempt from state sales and excise taxes. 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
October 4, 1993. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted during
the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-day period
(to October 19, 1993).
A copy of the application and accompanying exhibits will be available for
public inspection at each of the following locations.
Port Director's Office,
Port of Pascagoula,
U.S. Customs Service,
Suite402, Pascagoula-Moss Point Bank Bldg.,
Pascagoula, Mississippi 39568.
Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board, room 3716,
U.S. Department of Commerce,
14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230.
Dated: July 28, 1993.
Dennis Puccinelli,
Acting Executive Secretary.
(FR Doc. 93-18750 Filed 8-4-93; 8:45 am)
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P