DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                           Foreign-Trade Zones Board

                               [Docket No. 48-87]

                                   53 FR 783

                                January 13, 1988


Foreign-Trade Zone 87, Lakes Charles, LA; Application for Subzone Citgo Oil
Refinery

TEXT: An application has been submitted to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board
(the Board) by the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District, grantee of
FTZ 87, requesting special-purpose subzone status for the oil refinery of
Citgo Petroleum Corporation (subsidiary of Southland Corporation), located
in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, adjacent to the Lake Charles Customs port
of entry. The application was submitted pursuant to the provisions of the
Foreign-Trade Zones Act, as amended (19 USC 81a-81u), and the regulations
of the Board (15 CFR Part 400). It was formally filed on December 30, 1987.

   The 260,000 BPD refinery complex (3,497 acres) is located on the west
bank of the Calcasieu River, three miles southwest of Lake Charles, on State
Highway 108, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. The facility employs 1600 persons
and is used to produce gasoline, kerosene, fuel oil, coke, lubricants,
propane, propylene, waxes, and sulphur. Some 80 percent of the refinery's
inputs are sourced abroad, including crude oil, naptha, and cat feed.
Products such as coke and propylene are exported.

   Zone procedures would exempt the refinery from Customs payments on the
foreign products used in its exports. On its domestic sales, the company is
seeking to avoid duties on fuel used in the refinery and to defer duties
until products leave the refinery. On certain products such as coke,
propane, propylene, and waxes, the company would be able to elect the rate
available to importers of these products. (Currently the rate is zero. The
duty on crude oil ranges from 5 1/4 to 10 1/2 cents/barrel.) Foreign
merchandise moved into zones are also exempt from state and local ad
valorem taxes. The applicant indicates that zone procedures will help the
company's international competitiveness. 

   In accordance with the Board's regulations, an examiners committee has
been appointed to investigate the application and report to the Board. The
committee consists of: John J. Da Ponte, Jr. (Chairman), Director, Foreign-
Trade Zones Staff, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; Joel
Mish, District Director, U.S. Customs Service, South Central Region, 423
Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70130; and Colonel Lloyd K. Brown, District
Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District New Orleans, P.O. Box 60267, New
Orleans, LA 70160. 

   Comments concerning the proposed subzone are invited in writing from
interested parties. They should be addressed to the Board's Executive
Secretary at the address below and postmarked on or before February 21,
1988. 

   A copy of the application is available for public inspection at each of
the following locations:

Port Director's Office,
U.S. Customs Service,
150 Marine St.,
P.O. Box 1466,
Lake Charles, LA 70602


Office of the Executive Secretary,
Foreign-Trade Zones Board,
U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 1529,
14th and Pennsylvania NW.,
Washington, DC 20230. 

   Dated: December 30, 1987.


John J. Da Ponte, Jr.,

   Executive Secretary.  
[FR Doc. 88-529 Filed 1-12-88; 8:45 am]

   BILLING CODE 3510-DS-M