Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan said Tuesday it plans to process a total 7.08 million kiloliters or 484, 041 b/d of crude oil over July-September, up 3% year on year, as it prepares for the summer demand season amid strong gasoil demand in the domestic market.
Of the July-September plan, Idemitsu plans to hike its crude throughput for the domestic market by 9% from a year ago to 6.78 million kl, while it plans to cut its oil products exports by 54% year on year to 300,000 kl as it focuses on meeting domestic oil products demand.
RESTARTING AICHI TROUBLED UNITS
Speaking at a press briefing in Tokyo, Idemitsu officials said the company had restarted a troubled 60,000 b/d desulfurization unit at the Aichi refinery on June 1, earlier than its target of by the end of June.
The refiner also restarted a 50,000 b/d residue fluid catalytic cracker, which had been shut following an unexpected glitch at the desulfurizer unit on February 15, on June 16.
The shutdown of the Aichi secondary units had resulted in Idemitsu importing 70,000 kl of gasoline over April-June, the officials said.
