Refiners strive to balance safety with survival

摘要

Japanese oil companies are struggling to balance the safety of their ageing refineries with corporate survival, compounding the challenges posed by rapid industry consolidation. An increase in refinery-related incidents has taken the country's oil sector aback, resulting in reduced product output in the peak winter heating demand season. Utilisation remains unusually high, at over 92pc since December, following a number of years of government-led efforts to offload excess capacity and enhance downstream operations.