Powerful Earthquake Shuts Down Fifth of Japan's Oil Refining Capacity

Monday, February 15, 2021

Japanese refiners led by the biggest, Eneos Corp, shut down a fifth of the country's crude oil refining capacity after a powerful earthquake struck northeastern Japan knocking out power, bullet train lines and injuring more than 150 people.

The refinery shutdowns in the world's fourth-biggest oil importer are another potential hit after the pandemic led to the evaporation of crude demand over the last year.

As much as 743,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil-processing capacity has been idled, nearly 22% of Japan's roughly 3.4 million bpd capacity.

The refineries in locations from Yokohama to Sendai near the epicentre of the 7.3-magnitude earthquake, which struck a little before midnight on Saturday, either automatically shut down or were idled immediately for checks.

Eneos said on Monday it shut down its 145,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Sendai refinery after it was hit by a large earthquake on Saturday. The company is still making checks on the refinery and does not have a restart date, the spokesman said.

Eneos later said the company's 270,000 bpd Negishi refinery, had also closed and it had no date for the resumption of operations.

The earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan, injuring scores of people, triggering widespread power outages and causing damage across parts of northern Japan, including in Fukushima which is still recovering a decade after a bigger quake in the same area.

Fuji Oil Co Ltd shut the 143,000 barrel-per-day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Sodegaura oil refinery in Chiba, east of Tokyo, after it was hit by an earthquake on Saturday, a company spokesman said on Monday.

Fuji Oil's only refinery was shut down automatically after the quake and the company plans to restart the CDU on Tuesday as no damage was found, the spokesman said.

Idemitsu Kosan did not immediately respond to a request to comment on media reports it had shut down its 190,000 bpd Chiba refinery, also because of the quake.

 (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Categories: Refining Refinery

Related Stories

MODEC Wins ExxonMobil Guyana’s Hammerhead FPSO Contract

Mitigate SCC & HE to Keep Offshore Metal Structures Ship Shape

Hanwha Ocean Marks Entry into Deepwater Drilling Market with First Drillship

Borr Drilling Bags Three New Assignments for its Jack-Up Drilling Rigs

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

Woodside to Shed Some Trinidad and Tobago Assets for $206M

Keel Laying for Wind Flyer Trimaran Crew Boat

Woodside Inks Long-Term LNG Supply Deal with China Resources

Japan and South Korea Look to Partner Up with US for Alaska Pipeline

Flare Gas Recovery Meets the Future

Current News

China's ENN, Zhenhua Oil Ink LNG Supply Deals with ADNOC

MODEC Wins ExxonMobil Guyana’s Hammerhead FPSO Contract

Mitigate SCC & HE to Keep Offshore Metal Structures Ship Shape

India Stretches Bids Deadline for 13 Offshore Deep-Sea Mineral Blocks

Indonesia Awards Oil and Gas Blocks to Boost Reserves

Sapura Energy Nets $22.6M in Offshore Support Vessel Contracts

CNOOC Puts Into Production New Oil Field in South China Sea

Sunda Energy Starts Environmental Consultation for Chuditch-2 Well Drilling Plans

Pakistan’s OGDC to Start Production at ADNOC’s Offshore Block by 2027

Petrovietnam, Petronas Extend PSC for Offshore Block

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com