Japan undertakes study on long-term outlook

The Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has started discussions to forecast the state of Japan’s petroleum industry around 2020, by forming a study group to look into the supply-and-demand structure for petroleum in Asian and Pacific Rim countries. The Petroleum Association of Japan, refiners and primary distributors are participating in the study group as members. The group will discuss a wide range of subjects from Asian and Pacific Rim regional perspectives, including the trend of constructing new refineries in the Middle East; moves to introduce new fuels such as bioethanol; their effects on Japan’s market structure for petroleum; and institutional issues and environmental issues. According to the agency, global petroleum demand keeps increasing, and is estimated to climb from 85 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2006 to 99 million bpd in 2015 and 116 million bpd in 2030. The number of vehicles worldwide is also on the rise and it is highly likely that biomass-based fuels will see widening adoption as transportation fuels. (February 22, 2007)