Oil product sales up by 3.5% in Japan

Preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed that Japanese refiners and importers sold 199.84 million kiloliters (3.43 million barrels per day) of oil products in the local market during 2012, a 3.5% increase from the previous year.
 
Sales volume for fuel oil rose year-on-year, due to greater demand by power utilities which have been increasing oil- and gas-fired power generation to make up for a shortfall in nuclear output following the earthquake on March 11, 2011. All but two of the 50 nuclear power plants have remained shut; Kansai Electric Power Company started the two nuclear power reactors in July of 2012.
 
Similarly, gasoil sales increased due to higher demand in the quake-hit areas where construction of buildings is taking place. Kerosene sales rose in November and December due to lower temperatures, as kerosene is used for heating in Japan. On the other hand, naphtha sales declined due to lower demand in the petrochemical industry, a METI source said.
 
Japan’s total oil product imports rose by 3.8% year-on-year to 37.94 million kiloliter (kl) in 2012 and imports of fuel oil increased by 59.2% year-on-year to 8.69 million kl in the same year.
 
Oil product exports declined by 10.7% year-on-year to 24.40 million kl in 2012. (January 31, 2013)