COVID-19 state of emergency extension set to slow Japan gasoline demand
Japan’s gasoline demand will continue to be slow in June, albeit increasing from a year ago, with the country set to extend its COVID-19 state of emergency to June 20 after marking double-digit year-on-year growth in May.
Japan’s May gasoline demand, which increased significantly during the Golden Week national holidays at the beginning of the month, has slowed in recent weeks, and the trend will likely continue into June, sources with Japanese refiners told S&P Global Platts.
“We are facing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic in the middle of the third round of the state of emergency, which is expected to extend again,” Petroleum Association of Japan President Tsutomu Sugimori told an online press conference May 27.
Japanese refiners will need at least three months to resume Iranian oil imports even if the Iranian nuclear talks lead to an agreement and a lifting of sanctions, Tsutomu Sugimori, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) said on Thursday. Sugimori, who also serves as chairman of Eneos Holdings Inc , said the company’s .
Yuka Obayashi An offshore platform in Iran / Credit: NIOC
Japanese refiners will need at least three months to resume Iranian oil imports even if Tehran s nuclear talks with world powers lead to an agreement and a lifting of sanctions, the head of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) said on Thursday. Even if the resumption of Iranian oil export is really going to happen, we ll have to consider it from then and it will take at least three months to resume import, PAJ President Tsutomu Sugimori told a news conference.
Eneos Holdings Inc, Japan s biggest oil refiner, has not started such a consideration yet, added Sugimori, who serves as chairman of the company.
Japanese refiners could resume oil imports from Iran as early as three months after confirming Iranian sanctions were being lifted, Petroleum Association of Japan President Tsutomu Sugimori said May 27. In the event of confirmation of the lifting of sanctions, “that’s when we start our consideration and [the resumption of Iranian oil imports] could come .
Japan’s weekly crude oil run rates fall to 42-week low at 58%
Japan’s crude oil run rates dropped to 58.1% over May 16-22, the lowest level in 42 weeks, amid peak refinery maintenance season, unplanned outages and a sharp decline in domestic oil product demand due to a COVID-19 state of emergency and other restrictions.
The May 16-22 crude runs were down 62.3% from the week before, as the country’s crude throughput fell 6.8% week on week to 2.01 million b/d in the week to May 22, data released May 26 by the Petroleum Association of Japan showed. The crude throughput, however, was up 1.7% from a year earlier, according to S&P Global Platts data.