TOKYO, Feb 25 - Japan's top refiner Nippon Oil Corp. said on Wednesday it expects to refine 22 percent less crude oil in March from a year earlier, as domestic demand slumps amid the global economic crisis.
The refiner's projection of 3.99 million kilolitres (810,000 barrels per day) in March, marks the fifth straight month of refining curbs of over 10 percent and follows worse-than-expected kerosene sales all winter.
The decline also takes into account the company's scheduled maintenance of a 115,000 barrels per day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Osaka refinery between March 8 and April 1.
Lower demand from Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, will hit global energy demand further, piling pressure on crude prices than have fallen by more than $100 from their peak hit in July. [O/R]
Nippon Oil's February crude refining volume likely totalled 4.05 million kl, down 16 percent from a year earlier, which would be lower than the company's original plan, a spokesman for the company said.
The company had initially projected to process 4.24 million kl this month, down 12 percent from a year earlier.
Nippon Oil, which in December agreed to merge with smaller refiner Nippon Mining Holdings Inc , has so far contracted to export 130,000 kl of jet fuel and 210,000 kl of gas oil, the spokesman added.
The firm, which absorbed Kyushu Oil's Oita refinery last year, has the capacity to refine 1.317 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), about a quarter of Japan's total.
The company scrapped its 60,000 bpd Toyama refinery at the end of January to tighten product supplies to cope with shrinking domestic demand.
The refiner's projection of 3.99 million kilolitres (810,000 barrels per day) in March, marks the fifth straight month of refining curbs of over 10 percent and follows worse-than-expected kerosene sales all winter.
The decline also takes into account the company's scheduled maintenance of a 115,000 barrels per day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Osaka refinery between March 8 and April 1.
Lower demand from Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, will hit global energy demand further, piling pressure on crude prices than have fallen by more than $100 from their peak hit in July. [O/R]
Nippon Oil's February crude refining volume likely totalled 4.05 million kl, down 16 percent from a year earlier, which would be lower than the company's original plan, a spokesman for the company said.
The company had initially projected to process 4.24 million kl this month, down 12 percent from a year earlier.
Nippon Oil, which in December agreed to merge with smaller refiner Nippon Mining Holdings Inc , has so far contracted to export 130,000 kl of jet fuel and 210,000 kl of gas oil, the spokesman added.
The firm, which absorbed Kyushu Oil's Oita refinery last year, has the capacity to refine 1.317 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd), about a quarter of Japan's total.
The company scrapped its 60,000 bpd Toyama refinery at the end of January to tighten product supplies to cope with shrinking domestic demand.
