Japanese Refineries Close As The Country’s Petroleum Consumption Falls

In our Short-Term Energy Outlook , we forecast the lowest annual petroleum consumption in Japan in 2024 since at least 1980, in part due to its aging and declining population. Japan’s reduced consumption is already affecting its refining industry. Japanese refiner ENEOS permanently closed a 120,000-barrel-per-day (b/d) refinery in western Japan in mid-October 2023, and another company, Idemitsu Kosan, plans to close a 120,000-b/d refinery in March 2024. These closures represent 7% of the country’s refinery capacity. We forecast consumption of petroleum products in Japan will decline by 3% between 2023 and 2024 to 3.3 million b/d…