Japan’s oil wholesalers on acquisition frenzy

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. recently acquired the gas station business of Suzuyo & Co. In July; the company, a subsidiary of JX Holdings, acquired the gas station operator Ikko Co. By the end of January 2013, JX Nippon will buy Sojitz Energy Corp. Another Japanese firm, Itochu Enex Co., has plans to acquire the management rights at rival firms.
JX Nippon’s acquisition of Suzuyo & Co. is the latest in a series of buyouts in Japan. Amidst a shrinking domestic market, gasoline wholesalers in the country have been buying gas stations as a means of ending procurement from rivals and acquiring additional outlets for their products.
According to Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, from its peak in March 1995, the number of Japan’s gasoline stations has gone down by nearly 40% to 37,443 gas stations as of the end of March this year. The proliferation of self-service stations has led to the decline in profits from fuel sales to less than ¥10 (US$0.11) per liter, almost half of the profit earned in the1990s. (November 30, 2012)