Oil refiners to cut production deeper

Oil refiners plan to further cut production due to deteriorating export conditions which make it difficult to maintain capacity utilization rates. Nippon Oil originally planned on a 15% production cut, but has increased this to 25% and will continue reduced production in January and beyond unless demand recovers. Idemitsu Kosan Co. will trim 100,000 kiloliters of crude oil from its original production goal of 7.5 million kiloliters. Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. has lowered its output forecast for the same quarter from 6.76 million kiloliters to 6.66 million kiloliters, an 8% drop from year-ago levels. Cosmo Oil Co. previously sought to cut production by 4% during the last four months of 2008, but has decided on deeper cuts. (November 29, 2008)