日本炼油企业不打算减产

据世界能源新闻2020年3月8日东京报道，日本的石油产品销售正在下滑，但日本几家最大炼油企业表示他们不打算减产。

上周，日本国内包括汽油和航空煤油在内的成品油销售下滑了逾四分之一。航空煤油销售量下降了近80%。

他表示：“如果时间延长的话，COVID-19在日本将很有可能会进一步削弱成品油需求，最大的影响已经体现在航空煤油市场上。”

截至2月29日的一周内，日本汽油销量下降了2.3%，至每日75万桶，而燃料油销量下降了逾20%，其中船用燃料销量下降了逾20%，石脑油销量下降了84%。

日本炼油厂开工率为82.2%，而前一周为84.3%。

日本第二大炼油企业出光兴产株式会社发言人对路透社记者表示：“日本国际航班的航空煤油需求量出现了大幅度下降。”他表示：“但我们没有看到国内航班对航空煤油需求的任何具体影响，我们仍在研究疫情对国内汽油需求的影响有多大。”

出光兴产不打算关闭其旗下炼油厂的任何原油蒸馏装置，并表示这些装置运转正常。

日本最大的炼油商JXTG的一位发言人在电话中说：“疫情目前对我们的燃料库存和设备没有影响。我们认为这不会对我们的市场造成巨大影响。”

日本第三大炼油商科斯莫能源控股公司的一位发言人拒绝就需求或该公司是否已削减原油加工量发表评论，但他表示，公司所有部门都在正常运转，公司没有关闭任何炼油业务的计划。

尽管如此，石油交易商表示，由于需求和利润率下降，出光兴产和其它日本炼油企业正在削减成品油产量。

李峻 编译自 世界能源新闻

原文如下：

Japan's Oil Refiners Keep Running Even as Coronavirus Curbs Fuel Sales

Sales of petroleum products are slumping in Japan, but the country's biggest refiners say they are not planning to cut production.

Oil product sales, including gasoline and jet fuel, slumped more than a quarter last week, the most recent period for which figures are available.

"We estimate domestic Japanese oil product demand in the first quarter will fall by an average of 7-8% year-on-year, both as a result of slowing economic activity as well as a result of the battle against coronavirus," said Aaron Cheong, an oil products analyst at Energy Aspects.

"The spread of COVID-19 in Japan, should it be prolonged, will likely weaken demand further, with the largest impact already seen in the jet market," he said.

Gasoline sales fell 2.3% to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week through Feb. 29, while bunker fuel was down more than 20% for A-fuel and naphtha sales were off by 84%.

Japan's refinery run rate was at 82.2%, compared with 84.3% the previous week.

"Demand for jet fuel for international flights has dropped," said a spokesman at Japan's second-biggest refiner, Idemitsu Kosan (IDKOY), told Reuters.

"But we have not seen any specific impact on demand for jet fuel for domestic flights and we are still examining how much impact it has had on local gasoline demand," he said.

Idemitsu is not planning to shut any of the crude distillation units at its refineries and said they are operating as normal.

A spokesman at JXTG, Japan's biggest refiner with a roughly 50% market share, said by phone: "For our fuel stocks and facilities, there is no effect right now. We don't think there is a huge impact on our market."

A spokesman at Cosmo Energy Holdings, Japan's third-biggest refiner, declined to comment on demand or whether the company had cut crude runs but said all units were operating normally and it had no plans to shut any refining operations. Still, oil traders said that Idemitsu and other Japanese refiners were cutting runs due to lower demand and margins.