Cosmo Oil to start producing ETBE

Japan’s Cosmo Oil Co. will switch from importing to producing ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) in April 2011, instead of importing the product. ETBE is mixed in amounts of 1% with regular gasoline to make biogasoline. Cosmo Oil began supplying biogasoline to its affiliated gas stations in the Kansai area in April this year, charging the same price for it as regular gasoline. Up until now, the company has imported ETBE, but it has determined that ETBE can be made cheaper domestically. Cosmo Oil will retool existing equipment at its Sakai Refinery to synthesize ETBE, with an annual production target of 100,000 kiloliters. The company did not disclose the amount of investment. Cosmo Oil will become the second Japanese oil company to make ETBE at home. JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., the former Nippon Oil Corp., began making ETBE at its refinery in Yokohama last November. (August 4, 2010)