Idemitsu Kosan, Japan’s No 3 oil refiner, said it aimed to roughly double its oil product exports in the next few years to compensate for declining domestic demand.

The firm’s annual oil exports are likely to hit 2 to 3 million kilolitres (12.6-18.9 million barrels, or about 35,000-52,000 barrels per day) in the “next two or three years,” Seiji Fukunaga, Idemitsu director and general manager of the petroleum and coal marketing department, told Reuters.
Idemitsu now forecasts oil exports of 1.5 million kl for the year ending in March, up from 1 million kl the year before.
“In the future, there is a possibility that exports may reach 5 to 6 million kl,” he told reporters.
Japanese refiners have been ramping up exports of gas oil and jet fuel amid a steady drop in domestic oil demand as the population peaks and the shift to electricity, gas and more fuel-efficient cars and machinery accelerates.
Domestic oil sales fell 2.4 per cent in the year ended March, and government data showed last month that Japan’s oil demand fell to its lowest.