TOKYO: Japan’s largest refiner, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, plans to process 3.67 million kiloliters (769,452 b/d) of crude oil in June for the domestic market, down 6% from a year ago, a company official said Monday. But JX plans to export an all-time high of 1.05 million kl (220,143 b/d) of oil products in June, mainly to Asia and Australia, up 72% from a year ago amid supportive overseas demand, the official said. JX’s monthly oil product exports will rise to more than 1 million kl for the first time next month, the official added.
The boost in exports comes after JX had said on April 27 that it will start exporting gasoil from its 145,000 b/d Sendai refinery in May, following the start of gasoline exports from the Mizushima plant, which has a combined refining capacity of 380,200 b/d, in April.
In June, JX’s total crude throughput is likely to come in at around 4.18 million kl, or 876,379 b/d, up 7% from a year ago as it plans to stockpile oil products due to a planned turnaround at its 270,000 b/d Negishi refinery in Tokyo Bay during autumn, the official said, declining to elaborate. JX’s ongoing turnaround at its sole 136,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Oita refinery, in the southwest, is scheduled to end on June 18, the official said.
JX’s crude throughput volume in May is now expected to come in at around 4.79 million kl, or 971,876 b/d, down 4% from a year ago, and down 0.8% from its earlier plan for the month, the official said. JX’s oil products exports, however, rose to 930,000 kl, or 188,694 b/d, in May, up 8% from an earlier plan of 860,000 kl for the month and up 86% from a year ago, the official said.
Japan’s gasoline demand in May was estimated to have fallen 2% year on year to 4.27 million kl, or 866,369 b/d, as some of the country’s gasoline demand shifted to the end of April ahead of the country’s Golden Week national holidays in early May, the official said. The country’s kerosene demand was estimated to rise 7% year on year to 570,000 kl, or 115,651 b/d, in May, as a result of a pick-up in heating demand in northern Japan following colder weather compared to a year ago, the official said.
Gasoil demand in Japan was estimated to fall 3% year on year to 2.57 million kl, or 521,445 b/d, as a result of reduced truck transportation during the Golden Week holidays, the official said. The country’s estimated demand for A-fuel oil — a blend of gasoil and fuel oil in a 90:10 ratio — fell 4% year on year to 790,000 kl, or 160,288 b/d, in May, he added.
The country’s fuel oil demand for power generation dropped to 340,000 kl, or 68,985 b/d, down 47% from a year ago, in May as a result of reduced overall electricity demand that slid 3% year on year on a kilowatt basis, the official said. Japan’s fuel oil demand for industries slid 3% year on year to 550,000 kl, or 111,593 b/d, in May, the official added.
