Japanese refineries to reduce capacity

Japan’s oil refiners have vowed to trim their total daily capacity by fiscal 2013, but the details are still in flux as the industry faces the prospect of a major internal realignment before then. In the latest plans they submitted to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the refiners pledged to slash total daily capacity by 1.3 million barrels, or more than one-quarter of total current capacity. This means that refiners need to choose between installing new heavy-oil cracking equipment or reduce overall capacity. Cosmo Oil Co. and TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK, which had not previously disclosed their intentions, presented plans for reducing their capacities. Cosmo Oil is believed to have proposed a roughly 100,000-barrel-a-day cut while keeping four of its refineries operational. (November 2, 2010)