Japan’s largest refiner Nippon Oil Corp said it plans to refine 4 per cent less crude oil in July than a year earlier, due to slow domestic sales and high inventories of gasoline.

The company will refine 3.94 million kilolitres (kl) (799,000 barrels per day) of crude oil in July to meet domestic demand, senior vice president Masahito Nakamura told reporters.
Nippon Oil’s June crude refining volume for domestic demand was estimated at 3.00 million kl, down 17 per cent from the same month last year and largely in line with its original plan to refine 2.99 million kl in the month.
The company said it expected domestic gasoline sales to fall at least 5 per cent from a year earlier this month, as the nation’s refiners have tried hard to fully pass on soaring crude import costs.
In the current business year that started in April, the firm’s gasoline sales have fallen at least 2 per cent from a year earlier hurt by significant rises in fuel prices, company officials said. Nakamura said the refiner would raise wholesale prices for refined products, including gasoline, by 8.4 yen per litre to pass on the higher cost of crude imports.
The hike, in line with other refiners, could send Japan’s average pump gasoline prices to above 180 yen ($1.68) per litre from the record high of 172.4 yen hit earlier this month.