THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF LOUISIANA 327 
 
 According to the API, reserves of crude oil at yearend totaled 5,028 million
barrels, down 371 million barrels from that of 1971. Additions to reserves
resulting from reevaluation, of known reservoirs, extensions of known fields,
and discovery of new fields and reservoirs amounted to only 409 million barrels.

 According to a Bureau of Mines survey, there were 20 refineries operating
in Louisiana which had a crude oil throughput capacity of 1,553,500 barrels
per day at yearend 1972. The only new refinery added was the small, 1 1,000-barrel-per-day
unit owned by Kerr-McGee Corp. at Dubach. Major expansion projects included
throughout capacity additions of 36,000 barrels per day at the Meraux refinery
of Murphy Oil Corp., 19,600 barrels per day at the Alliance plant of Gulf
Oil Corp., and 15,000 barrels per day at the Lake Charles refinery of Cities
Service Oil Co. Because of retirement of older units at the Baton Rouge plant
of Exxon Co., U.S.A., capacity of the Nation's largest refinery fell to 420,000
barrels per day. 
 A study by the Oil and Gas Journal in early 1972 placed the spare production
capacity at 200,000 barrels per day from onshore fields and State-controlled
offshore fields. The study found that only 35 of the State's 1,389 oilfields
were capable of producing significant volumes over the Statecontrolled output.

 In January the Conservation Commissioner set the February allowable pattern
at 75% of the 1971 depth bracket schedule, up from 69% in January. This was
the highest percentage in the history of the program except at the time of
the 1956 Suez Canal crisis and the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Allowables remained
unchanged until September when producers were permitted to produce at the
maximum efficient rate (MER); in October regular monthly allowable hearings
were discontinued because the State could not produce all the oil requested
by buyers. Wells in Federal offshore waters had been producing at the MER
since 1971. 
 Petrochemicals.—The petrochemical industrv in Louisiana continued
to expand as many new plants were brought onstream while others were expanded.
Furthermore, plans for additional petrochemical facilities were abundant.
For the first time, however, selected Louisiana industrialists pondered the
uncertain future of their feedstocks, 
especially ethylene, benzene, and naphtha. This apprehension was brought
about by the predicted energy crisis, a switch to nonleaded gasoline, and
the uncertainty of imported feedstocks. 
 The tight chlorine supply situation expected since early 1972 spurred the
expansion of existing plants and the construction of new plants. Hooker Chemical
Corp. plans to build a chior-alkali plant at Taft to increase its current
650-ton-per-day capacity. The new plant will be able to produce 1,000 tons
per day of chlorine and 1,100 tons pef year of caustic soda. Completion is
scheduled for late 1974. Other chlorine expansion projects have been announced
by Georgia-Pacific Corp. at Plaquemine, BASF Wyandotte Corp. at Geisman,
and PPG Industries at Lake Charles. Dow Chemical Co. announced plans to expand
chloromethane production at Plaquemine, bringing the plant's total capacity'
to 250 million pounds per year. 
 Gulf Oil Corp.'s first venture into styrene monomer commenced in January
when its large 500-million-pound-per-year unit went onstream in Donaldsonville
at a cost of S164 million. The product will be used in the manufacture of
tires, insulation, boat hulls, and molded auto parts. 
 American Cyanamid Co. announced plans to build a new acrylamide plant at
its Fortier complex in New Orleans, using its newly developed catalytic process.
Brewster Phosphates, Inc., is building a facility at Luling just west of
New Orleans to produce diammonium phosphate. When completed the firm will
be able to produce 350,000 tons per year of this product. Shell Chemical
Co. announced plans to build a vinyl chloride monomers unit at Norco to have
a capacity of 1,000 tons per day and to be completed in 1973. 
 Agrico Chemical Co., a subsidiary of Williams Co, began a $50 million expansion
program at Donaldsonville which includes a 400,000-ton-per-year phosphoric
acid plant to be completed in mid-1974. 
 After bringing a new polypropylene unit onstream at Lake Charles during
the spring with a capacity of 180 million pounds per year, Hercules, Inc.
plans another new plant on the gulf coast to have a capacity of 200 million
pounds per year. 
 CF industries, Inc. announced that it plans to build a 1,000-ton-per-day
urea plant at Donaidsonville for completion by mid1974.