Nippon Oil pushes forward closing of Toyama refinery

Nippon Oil Corp. said it will terminate the operations of its refinery in Toyama Prefecture by the end of January, rather than March as announced earlier. Operations are being terminated at the terminal earlier than planned due to the larger-than-anticipated drop in domestic demand for oil, Japan’s biggest oil distributor said. Following the termination of refining operations, the facility will be used by the Nippon Oil group as a storage terminal for petroleum products prior to shipment, while the group will continue to operate seven refineries in Japan. (January 13, 2009)