Until petroleum products arrive
In Japan, approximately 50% of petroleum products are used as energy to power automobiles, airplanes, ships, etc., approximately 25% are used as heat sources for factories, boilers, home heating, etc., and approximately 25% are used as raw materials for chemical products such as plastics and synthetic fibers *.
Idemitsu Kosan believes it is its responsibility to balance providing a stable supply of petroleum products that are essential to people's lives and economic activity with contributing to carbon neutrality society.
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Source: Petroleum Federation
Crude oil procurement
Crude oil, the raw material for petroleum products, is mainly produced in the United States, the Middle East, etc. There are approximately 300 types of crude oil in the world, and each type has different quality (specific gravity, sulfur content, etc.), which in turn varies in price, suitability for Refinery equipment, and the ratio of obtained petroleum products.
We stably procure the most suitable crude oil, taking into consideration the crude oil price, product market, supply and demand balance, Refinery operation status, etc. In particular, we have maintained good relationships with oil-producing countries in the Middle East for many years, which contributes to stable procurement.
Crude oil transportation by large tanker
We mainly transport crude oil using large tankers called Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (Very Large Crude Oil Carriers) operated by our subsidiary, Idemitsu Tanker Co., Ltd. The overall length of Very Large Crude Oil Carrier is about 300m, almost the same size as Tokyo Tower. Each Very Large Crude Oil Carrier can carry approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil. The total oil refining capacity of Japan, including our group, is approximately 3.46 million barrels per day, so even just one Very Large Crude Oil Carrier can load and transport a huge amount of crude oil.
When importing crude oil from the Middle East, it takes approximately 20 to 25 days for it to arrive at a Japanese Refinery.
Refinery refining
Crude oil is refined into petroleum products in factories called Refinery.
Distillation (primary treatment)
Crude oil is heated to over 350℃ in a column called an atmospheric distillation unit, approximately 50 meters in height, and is separated and concentrated into different fractions using differences in boiling points.
Desulfurization, decomposition, modification, etc. (secondary treatment)
Desulfurization
This process removes sulfur content, which causes air pollution, from each fraction. This allows gasoline and diesel oil to This makes it possible to supply sulfur-free products (sulfur content of 10 ppm or less).
Disassembly
This is a process in which the high-carbon fraction produced during the distillation process is decomposed into a low-carbon fraction. This converts heavy oil and asphalt fractions into gasoline and kerosene fractions.
modification
Reforms naphtha fraction with a low octane number into reformed gasoline with a high octane number.
After secondary processing, quality adjustment and confirmation are performed, and only products that meet standards are finalized.
During the crude oil refining process, it is not possible to produce only a specific component, but multiple fractions are produced simultaneously, and the proportion of each fraction obtained depends on the type of crude oil.
Because there is high demand for certain products such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, we procure crude oil from which the fractions that make up these products can be easily extracted, or we crack other fractions to obtain gasoline fractions, etc.
Light crude oil, from which it is easier to extract the fractions that make up gasoline, kerosene, diesel, etc., tends to be more expensive than heavy crude oil, which does not. If we can procure cheap heavy crude oil and obtain the necessary components by cracking the components of heavy oil, etc., this will lead to cost competitiveness, and one of the strengths of our Group's Refinery is that they are equipped with many cracking units that perform this function.
The Group strives for safe operation every day at its three domestic Refinery and four Complex *1 and promotes quality assurance initiatives to supply appropriate products that meet customer needs.
In addition to contributing to a stable supply of energy through Refineries/Complexes, we are promoting the "CNX *2 Center" initiative, which will utilize their premises and equipment to transform them into new low-carbon and zero-carbon energy hubs.
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A factory with an oil refining function is defined as Refinery, and a factory that performs oil refining and petrochemical production, or a factory that only produces petrochemical products, is defined as Complex
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CNX: Carbon Neutral Transformation
Domestic delivery by tank truck or ship
Products shipped from Refinery are transported by tanker trucks or ships to oil bases called oil oil terminal. From these oil terminal, they are delivered to customers, such as service station and factories, by tanker trucks or other vehicles.
Sales to customers
In addition to selling gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc. at our service station apollostation we also sell heavy fuel oil to ships, power plants, and factories, and jet fuel for aircraft.
Idemitsu Technical Master (ITM) is a certification system for corporate sales representatives dealers in the sale of Petroleum.
In 2009, we introduced the Idemitsu Technical Master (ITM) qualification system with the aim of strengthening the product knowledge and proposal capabilities of our dealers corporate sales representatives and creating an Idemitsu Group that can help solve customer problems through Petroleum.
ITM Level 1 certification is awarded only to those who have extensive knowledge of petroleum products, specialized knowledge of products, equipment, peripheral facilities, regulations, etc., and the ability to propose solutions that are environmentally friendly and that save energy and costs, and who pass the highest level qualification exam held once a year.
Through training sessions and other initiatives, we strive to acquire cutting-edge knowledge and improve our proposal capabilities, and continue to earn the trust of our customers as their trusted partner.