Japanese consumers will likely be paying more for gasoline in the coming months as the country’s top refiners are expected to pump up the wholesale price of oil products in September to reflect record high oil prices.

Japan Energy Corp, the refining unit of Nippon Mining Holdings Inc, said it had notified its contract distributors that it would raise its September wholesale product prices by four yen per litre.
“We have never raised our wholesale prices by this much in the past,” a Japan Energy spokesman said. “Crude oil prices have struck record highs, boosting our purchasing costs for crude oil and oil products.”
Japan’s biggest refiner Nippon Oil Corp, Idemitsu Kosan Co and Cosmo Oil Co Ltd were expected to follow suit, also raising their wholesale product prices by four yen per litre or more for September, industry officials said.