JXTG Holdings, Japan’s biggest oil refiner, said it plans to close a 115,000 barrel per day (bpd) Osaka refinery that it owns with Petro China next year, amid falling demand for crude products in Japan. The closure will cut Japan’s refining capacity to just over 3.4 million bpd, down from 5.6 million bpd in the 1980s when Japan accounted for almost 10 percent of global oil product output. Four of Japan’s biggest refiners have merged into two in recent years and cut operations as they seek business from a shrinking, aging population that consumes less fuel because of more efficient vehicles and gasoline-electric hybrids. The refinery will be shut in October next year, a month after the expiry of JXTG’s venture with Petro China, and the site will be converted to an asphalt-fueled electric power station, JXTG said. JXTG holds 51% of the venture while Petro China, one of China’s biggest energy companies, has the rest. No details were given on costs, although JXTG said the changes would not affect its earnings in the current financial year. In the meantime, JXTG is in talks with Petro China about the Chinese company becoming a partner in its 129,000 bpd Chiba refinery near Tokyo.
