Foreign-Trade Zone 31Granite City, Illinois; Application for Subzone Status; Shell Oil Company (Oil Refinery Complex); Madison County, Illinois

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Foreign-Trade Zones Board

[Docket 32-96]

Foreign-Trade Zone 31--Granite City, Illinois; Application for

Subzone Status; Shell Oil Company (Oil Refinery Complex); Madison

County, Illinois

An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board

(the Board) by the Tri-City Port District, grantee of FTZ 31,

requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery complex

of Shell Oil Company, located in Madison County, Illinois. 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 April 17, 1996.

The refinery complex (1,922 acres, 1,100 employees) consists of 3

sites and related pipelines in Madison County, Illinois, some 25 miles

east of St. Louis, Missouri: Site 1 (1533 acres)--main refinery complex

(290,000 BPD) located at Hwy 111 in Wood River Township, including

areas located in the towns of Roxana, Hartford, South Roxana and Wood

River; Site 2 (289 acres)--crude oil storage facility (3.2 mil. barrel

capacity) located across Hwy 111 from the refinery, and; Site 3 (100

acres)--sulfur recovery plant located adjacent to the refinery.

The refinery complex is used to produce fuels and petrochemical

feedstocks. Fuels produced include gasoline, jet fuel, distillates,

diesel, and residual fuels. Petrochemical feedstocks and refinery by-

products may include methane, ethane, propane, butane, butylene,

toluene, propylene, paraffin wax, carbon black oil, cumene, sulfur and

petroleum coke. About 60 percent of the crude oil and related products

(e.g., condensate) (90 percent of inputs), and some feedstocks and

motor fuel blendstocks used in producing fuel products are sourced

abroad.

Zone procedures would exempt the activity 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 by-products (duty-free) instead of the duty

rates that would otherwise apply to the foreign-sourced inputs (e.g.,

crude oil). The duty rates on crude oil and condensate 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

[[Page 18380]]

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

June 24, 1996. Rebuttal comments in response to material submitted

during the foregoing period may be submitted during the subsequent 15-

day period (to July 9, 1996).

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 District Office, 8182 Maryland Avenue,

Suite 303, St. Louis, Missouri 63105

Office of the Executive Secretary, Foreign-Trade Zones Board, Room

3716, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20230.

Dated: April 17, 1996.

John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96-10111 Filed 4-24-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P