Message from the Executive Officer

Based on the forecast that oil demand in FY2030 will be about 20% lower than in FY2022, we have decided to cease the refining functions of Seibu Oil Co., Ltd. in March 2024. Looking ahead, we will continue to review our refineries and complexes and strengthen competitiveness (cost reduction and efficiency improvement) while keeping an eye on future changes in the environment to ensure a stable supply of petroleum products and petrochemicals, which are important energy and materials.

The Group’s refineries and complexes have been working together with the support of local communities over many years. Our accumulated knowledge, experience, technological capabilities, and existing infrastructure will be a valuable asset in our efforts toward carbon neutrality by 2050. On the other hand, we have built longstanding relationships of trust with our partners, including governments in many countries and regions in the Middle East and the Pacific Rim, through various businesses, including the import of fossil energy sources. Based on these important assets and relationships of trust, we will promote business innovation to CNX_​ ^* Centers that are suited to the characteristics of each refinery and business site from a menu of hydrogen, ammonia, biomass, resource recycling, carbon dioxide fixation, and synthetic fuel, in cooperation with various governmental agencies, local governments, and related companies in Japan and overseas.

While continuing to provide a stable supply of petroleum products and petrochemicals, we will steadily and swiftly advance the establishment of CNX Centers and continue to support the mobility, energy, and livelihood of the people of the region, both now and into the future.

In July 2022, we established  the Advanced Materials Company ​ to be prepared to the changing business environment and to conduct strategic planning and management of all related businesses.

Currently, we are working to materialize the three focus areas* of our functional materials business for social implementation of “Diverse resource conservation / circulation solutions,” which was set forth in our Medium-term Management Plan as our business domains for the year 2050. In the three focus areas, we will both integrate the technologies we have thus far accumulated in “organic/inorganic synthesis,” “photo/electrochemistry,” and “bioconversion technologies,” as well as vigorously promote various external collaborations that generate technological innovation, such as comprehensive initiatives with academia and investment in start-ups. ^​ 

In current businesses, we reviewed unprofitable businesses and consolidated production in order to secure steady earnings and cash flow, and we built the foundation for promotion of new business development.

Going forward, we will further accelerate the materialization of portfolio innovation, with new businesses, and work to become a stronger business entity that can maintain and expand earnings even in a rapidly changing business environment.