JX Nippon Oil to undertake cost reduction and expansion of lubricant production

Yasushi Kimura, president of JX Nippon Oil and Energy, said in an interview that repair of the jetty in the company’s Kashima complex had been completed, making full-scale production possible. He explained that the company’s efforts were not limited to repair, and that their office building will be outfitted with solar cells, fuel cells and storage batteries that will provide flexible response to disasters. Kimura also said that JX Nippon Oil will undertake cost reduction totalling 109 billion yen (US$1.29 billion) for fiscal 2012. Towards this end, refining capacity had been reduced by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), which will be lowered further by another 200,000 bpd by the end of March 2014. JX Nippon Oil, Kimura said, is responding to strong lubricant and petrochemical demand in Asia. In 2011, the company formed a subsidiary in Dubai and extended its lubricant production and sales network to include 13 countries. A new base oil plant will come online in July 2013 and a paraxylene plant will be set up in 2014. (January 18, 2012)