Taiyo Oil scraps aromatic unit project

Taiyo Oil Co., one of Japan’s smallest refiners, said it had scrapped plans to build an aromatic unit due to weak demand for petrochemicals in the wake of the global economic slowdown. Taiyo Oil had been planning to construct an 8,000 barrel per day (bpd) aromatic unit that would have produced 50,000 tons per year of benzene and xylene. The project cost topped the company’s 2006 projection of ¥50 billion (US$555 million), as the company raised the capacity of some refining units from its initial plan, a company spokesman said. (November 28, 2008)