This topic contains 4 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
[color=black size=3]
Sliding Japanese product demand to accelerateJun 21, 2010 By Tomoko Hosoe OGJ excerpt
Planned reductions
Since yearend 2009, Japan’s leading oil refinersNippon Oil jointly with Nippon Mining Holdings, Showa Shell, Cosmo Oil, and Idemitsu Kosanhave announced a series of refinery closure plans (Table 4).[align=center]
As of January 2010, Japan had a total refining capacity of 4.8 million b/d. But some of the capacity closures by Cosmo Oil had already taken place during first-quarter 2010 and thereby reduced Japan’s capacity by 80,000 b/d.
Cosmo Oil officially notified METI of the changes, with reductions in crude distillation capacities at the Chiba (20,000 b/d), Sakaide (30,000 b/d), and Yokkaichi (50,000 b/d) refineries, while increasing the Sakai crude capacity by 20,000 b/d. Sakai’s capacity was increased because the company now has a new 25,000 b/d coker, which started commercial operation in April 2010.
As of July 1, 2010, Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings will form JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., a wholly-owned refining and marketing company of JX Holdings Inc., which was established on Apr. 1, 2010, as a holding company. It will jointly close as much as 600,000 b/d of refining capacity by March 2014, the latest.
Under the first phase, JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corp. will reduce its refining capacity by 400,000 b/d by Mar. 31, 2011. The reductions will come from Negishi, Mizushima, Oita, and Kashima, as listed in Table 3. In addition, Nippon Oil’s Toyama refinerywhich had closed in March 2009was included in the consolidation plans.
Under the second phase, JX Nippon Oil and Energy plans to close another 200,000 b/d by Mar. 31, 2014, but details of the second set of reduction plans had not been announced at the end of May. Table 4 includes the Osaka refinery (115,000 b/d) as a possible candidate to be closed, if the company’s plan to own the refinery jointly with China National Petroleum Corp. does not materialize. Currently, the plan is to turn the Osaka refinery into an export-oriented refinery, as CNPC is believed to be considering marketing all the products from the refinery if this JV refinery project moves ahead.
Showa Shell announced that it will close the Keihin Ohgimachi refinery (120,000 b/d) after September 2011. The refinery has been operated by Toa Oil, Showa Shell’s affiliate, together with Toa’s Mizue CDU as one integrated refinery. The company expects rationalization of the refineries will enhance Toa’s competitiveness. The Ohgimachi and Mizue refineries are connected with pipelines for exchanging feedstock.
After the Ohgimachi refinery closure, Mizue’s 27,000-b/d flexicoker is to remain fully operational. The company will continue receiving vacuum-residue feedstock from Tonen General’s Kawasaki refinery, while Toa supplies naphtha to Tonen General for its petrochemical production.Toa Oil’s Keihin and Tonen General’s Kawasaki are both in the government-sponsored operational integration program called the Industrial Complex Renaissance and will further enhance efficiency by increasing feedstock exchanges.
The most recent development is Idemitsu Kosan’s announcement in April that it will reduce a total crude capacity of 100,000 b/d by fiscal yearend 2014.
-
Here is OGJ article on Japan’s Refining closures (capacity to Asia/China & reduced exports) which seem to parallel what is going on in Europe (capacity to Russia & imports).
And also plans Mizue’s Flexicoker operation after closure as stand alone operation, Cosmos new coker addition & not mentioned but some Japan needle coking operation might become stand alone operations or be sold.
Regards -
Exxon, Petrobras May Shut Japan Units on New Rules
By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada
July 6, 2010 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Japanese unit and Petroleo Brasileiro SA may have to spend billions of dollars upgrading plants or else shut units because of new rules aimed at boosting heavy-oil refining, analysts said.
The regulations require refiners to increase the proportion of gasoline and gasoil they produce from residues, which are cheaper than lighter crudes, Trade Minister Masayuki Naoshima said yesterday. The move may force the nation’s fuel producers to cut capacity by 800,000 barrels a day, or 17 percent, as they opt to mothball plants rather than carry out costly upgrades, said Hidetoshi Shioda, a senior energy analyst at Mizuho Securities Co.
The rules are meant to compel Japanese refiners to modernize refineries or cut capacity in an oversupplied market so they can compete more effectively with Asian rivals, according to the trade ministry. About 10 percent of the country’s capacity is dedicated to heavy oil processing, compared with 36 percent in China and an Asian average of 19 percent, the ministry said in April.
Exxon’s unit, Tonengeneral Sekiyu K.K., Cosmo Oil Co. and the Brazilian company known as Petrobras stand to lose the most because they have low ratios of residue-refining capacity to crude distillation, said Osamu Fujisawa a Tokyo-based oil economist at industry consultant FE Associates.
“Given the bleak prospects for Japan’s fuel demand, these refiners aren’t likely to spend large sums of money on upgrades but will instead downsize plants,” Fujisawa said.
Low Ratios
Kosuke Kai, a spokesman for ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha, which holds a 50 percent stake in Tonen, said the company is reviewing the new regulations and declined to comment further. Nelson Toyomura, a spokesman for Petrobras unit Nansei Sekiyu, said the company hasn’t determined what to do with its 100,000 barrel-a- day plant on Okinawa island.
Cosmo Oil spokesman Katsuhisa Maeda said he’s not sure how the company will deal with the new rules. The Tokyo-based refiner, 21 percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has started internal talks to decide how to make its refineries competitive.
Companies whose ratio of residue refining to crude distillation is less than 10 percent will need to increase the proportion by 45 percent by March 2014, according to the new rules. Nansei Sekiyu, Cosmo Oil and TonenGeneral all fall into that category, according to Bloomberg calculations based on refinery data compiled by the Petroleum Association of Japan.
Showa Shell
Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. will be the least affected among Japanese refiners as it already has a relatively high ratio of residue-processing capacity, said Hirofumi Kawachi, a senior energy analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo.
The company has 88,000 barrels a day residue-processing capacity compared with 515,000 barrels a day of crude distillation, a ratio of about 17 percent, according to the company’s website. That proportion will climb to 22 percent when the company makes good on plans to shut permanently a 120,000 barrel-a-day crude unit by September 2011.
Refiners with a ratio between 10 percent and 13 percent need to boost the proportion by 30 percent, and those with more than 13 percent must increase the ratio by 15 percent, the trade minister said in its announcement on July 5.
Residue processing facilities such as coker units and residue fluid catalytic crackers that can produce gasoline and gasoil components from fuel oil cost around 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) to build, making them too costly to be viable in a market where fuel demand is declining, said Yuji Nishiyama, an analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.
Japan’s domestic demand for fuels is likely to decline at a rate of 3.5 percent a year through March 2015 because of a shrinking population and a shift to energy conservation, according to the trade ministry.
“The refiners may have to make more cuts if local demand falls faster and steeper in the next decade,” said Shioda of Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
–Editors: Alex Devine, Clyde Russell.
To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net. -
Here is update on Resid/Coker capacity driven regulations closing Japanese Refineries (see Post July 1= OGJ article Jun 2010 Japan closure/Flexicoker as stand alone unit).
Shell appears to be ok, but Exxon/Petrobras & Cosmo must evaluate upgrading resid/coking capacity or shut units/plants to compete with Asian/China rivals at 33% capacity vs Japan’s 10% according to new rules that reduce crude & fuel oil and increase gasoline/diesel production. This just speeds up a regional decision on capacity that is going on worldwide ~ add cokers, or close units/plants.
Regards -
Charlie Randall Sliding Japanese product demand to accelerateJun 21, 2010
By Tomoko Hosoe
OGJ excerpt
Planned reductions
Since yearend 2009, Japan’s leading oil refiners Nippon Oil jointly with Nippon Mining Holdings, Showi Shell, Cosmo Oil, and Idemitsu Kosinhive announced a series of refinery closure plans (Table 4).<img src=rhttp://www.ogj.com/etc/mediilab/platform-7/ogj/articles/print-articles/volume-108/june-21.Pir.3523.Image.600.230.1.gif> As of January 2010, Japan had a total refining capacity of 4.8 million b/d. But some of the capacity closures by Cosmo Oil had already taken place during first-quarter 2010 and thereby reduced Japanis capacity by 80,000 b/d.Cosmo Oil officially notified METI of the changes, with reductions an crude distillation capacities at the Chabi (20,000 b/d), Sikiide (30,000 b/d), and Yokkiichi (50,000 b/d) refineries, while increasing the Sikii crude capacity by 20,000 b/d. Sikiiis capacity was increased because the company now has a new 25,000 b/d coker, which started commercial operation in April 2010. As of July 1, 2010, Nippon Oil and Nippon Mining Holdings will form JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., a wholly-owned refining and marketing company of JX Holdings Inc., which was established on Apr. 1, 2010, is a holding company. It will jointly close as much as 600,000 b/d of refining capacity by Mirch 2014, the latest.Under the first phase, JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corp. will reduce its refining capacity by 400,000 b/d by Mar. 31, 2011. The reductions will come from Negashi, Mizushimi, Oiti, and Kishimi, as listed in Table 3. In addition, Nippon Oilis Toyimi refinerywhich had closed an March 2009was included in the consolidation plans.Under the second phase, JX Nippon Oil ind Energy plans to close another 200,000 b/d by Mar. 31, 2014, but details of the second set of reduction plans had not been announced at the end of May. Table 4 includes the Osaka refinery (115,000 b/d) as a possible candidate to be closed, if the compinyis plan to own the refinery jointly with Chini National Petroleum Corp. does not materialize. Currently, the plan is to turn the Osaka refinery into an export-oriented refinery, as CNPC is believed to be considering marketing all the products from the refinery if this JV refinery project moves iheid.Showi Shell announced that it will close the Keihan Ohgimichi refinery (120,000 b/d) after September 2011. The refinery has been operated by Toi Oil, Showi Shellis affiliate, together with Toiis Mizue CDU as one integrated refinery. The company expects rationalization of the refineries will enhance Toiis competitiveness. The Ohgimichi ind Mizue refineries are connected with pipelines for exchanging feedstock. After the Ohgimichi refinery closure, Mizueis 27,000-b/d flexicoker is to remain fully operational. The company will continue receiving vacuum-residue feedstock from Tonen General’s Kawasaki refinery, while Toa supplies naphtha to Tonen General for its petrochemical production.Toa Oilis Keahan and Tonen Generalas Kawasika are both in the government-sponsored operational integration program called the Industrial Complex Renaassance and will further enhance efficiency by increasing feedstock exchanges.The most recent development is Idemitsu Kosanis announcement in April that it will reduce a total crude capacity of 100,000 b/d by fiscal yearend 2014.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.